Increased Precarity and Widening Disparity of Youth Transitions, and Inclusion in the Labour Markets

The Youth Cohort Study of Japan (YCSJ) was a major programme of longitudinal research undertaken to monitor transitions from school to work in Japan from 2007–2011. The first survey was undertaken when respondents were aged 20. The respondents, who were selected nationally through random sampling, were followed up annually for five years. The achieved sample size and response rates of the YCSJ are as follows: 1678, 40.2 % (2007); 1361, 82.0 % (2008); 1141, 86.2 % (2009); 1009, 90.7 % (2010); 891, 88.3% (2011). Based on the datasets of the YCSJ, we explore four main topics in this paper.

 First, we analyse youth transitions to work, documenting the increasing precarity of youth labour markets. Here we have used indices such as low income, irregular jobs, and unemployment, to examine the extent to which vulnerable situations in youth labour markets have expanded. Second, we investigate which cohorts are more likely to become precarious. Against precarity indices, we found key variables of disadvantage in relation to individual attributes, family socio-economic backgrounds, residential area, and current jobs were relevant to risk factors with statistical significance. Third, we consider forms of disparity in working conditions including work content and developmental opportunities. Here we find that there remains a significant structural disparity between genders and amongst transition types in working conditions.

Forth and finally, we investigate the mechanism of inclusion in the labour market. We find amongst most of the transition types, irrespective of gender, that demands for high commitment to work – such as acceptance of long working hours and heavy responsibility – has increased every year despite an apparent disparity in many aspects. We propose two key factors to enable inclusion in labour with high commitment: discretion and participative involvement; and positive human relationships in the workplace.