Freeter

Freeters (Japanese: フリーター) is a Japanese expression for people between the age of 15 and 34 who lack full time employment or are unemployed, excluding housewives and students. They may also be described as underemployed or freelance workers. These people do not start a career after high school or university but instead usually live as parasite singles with their parents and earn some money with low skilled and low paid jobs. The low income makes it difficult for freeters to start a family, and the lack of qualifications make it difficult to start a career at a later point in life.

The word freeters or freeta was first used around 1987 or 1988 and is probably based on an amalgamation of the English words free time or the German words, frei arbeiter ("unoccupied worker"). It is said that the use was coined by the Japanese part time job magazine From A (Japanese: フロムエー). Other possible spellings are freeter, furita, furiita, freeta, furiitaa, or furitaa in order of frequency.

Current Situation

Freeters are a relatively new phenomenon in Japan. The word freeter was used first around 1987 during the bubble economy, referring to young people that deliberately chose not to work despite a large number of jobs available at that time. During this time, freeters were also somewhat glamorized as people pursuing their dreams and trying to live life to the fullest.

In the first years of the 21st century, the number of freeters began rising rapidly. In 1982 there were an estimated 0.5 million freeters in Japan, 0.8 million in 1987, 1.01 million in 1992 and 1.5 million in 1997. The official number for 2001 is 4.17 million freeters according to one count, or 2 million in 2002 according to another estimate, approximately three percent of the working population. According to some estimates there will be ten million freeters in Japan in 2014. The rapid increase in the number of freeters has many Japanese people worried about their future impact on the society. Freeters often work at convenience stores, supermarkets, fast food outlets, restaurants, and other low paying, low skill jobs. According to a survey of the Japan Institute of Labor in 2000, the average freeter works 4.9 days per week and earns 139,000 yen per month (ca. 1,300 US dollar). Two thirds of freeters have never had a regular job.

Causes

The Japan Institute of Labor classifies freeter into three groups, the moratorium type that wants to wait before starting a career, the dream pursuing type, and the no alternative type. The moratorium and dream pursuing type of freeter deliberately chooses not to join the rat race in the usually strict and conservative companies (see: Culture of Japan) but instead wants to take a time-out to enjoy life or have specific dreams incompatible with a standard Japanese career. Many freeters hope to start their career later in life in order to achieve a steady income that supports a family, and many female freeters hope to marry a reasonably successful husband for the same reasons.

The no alternative type are freeter that cannot find employment after leaving school or university, and subsequently take low paying jobs in order to receive some income. This may be either due to a lack of marketable skills of the person or due to the general difficult employment situation in Japan. Women in general find it more difficult to start a successful career in Japan and can often only find employment as an office lady. In any case, about 10% of high school and university graduates could not find a steady employment in the spring of 2000, and a full 50% of those who could find a job left within 3 years after employment. The unemployment situation is worst for the young people; some freeters are desperately seeking a job, while only a minority have given up hope of finding steady employment. Importantly, this type of freeter is almost non-existent since the economic situation started to improve in 2004.

Effects

Difficulties starting their own household

There are a number of mostly negative effects of the freeter lifestyle. First of all is the low income of the freeter, which usually does not permit them to establish their own household. Instead, most freeters live for free with their parents as parasite singles. However, while living with the parents is not necessarily a bad thing, it is not feasible in the long term. While parents in Japan usually do not force their offspring out of the house, there are a number of reasons why the children have to move out eventually.

First, Japanese housing is usually rather compact, and while it serves for one family, it usually is too small for two families in the same apartment or house. Thus, if a freeter wants to marry, he or she would have to find their own housing, usually at their own expense. The second reason why a child often has to move out of the parents' house eventually is that the lifespan of the parents is limited. If the parents die, the children have to pay for their housing themselves, and even if they inherit the house or apartment there are still many other costs of living that they have to pay. However, as Japan has the longest life expectancy in the world, this problem is usually not too pressing.

Also, many children find living with their parents up to their twenties or thirties constricting on their lifestyle, and find it limiting on their own personal freedom. But due to the limited income of the freeters, living with their parents is usually the only option.

Difficulties starting a career

This limited income is the biggest problem the freeters face when they voluntarily or involuntarily have to pay for their own living expenses. Yet, starting a career to increase the income is more difficult the longer somebody is a freeter. Japanese enterprises prefer to hire new workers fresh out of high school or university. While the employment situation is changing, large traditional companies still see a new employee as a lifetime investment, and much prefer to hire a young person who is easier to mold into the desired kind of employee and also gives a higher return on training investment due to the longer employment till retirement.

Subsequently, the freeters will find it more difficult to start a successful career the longer they wait to start a career, and the number of career options dwindle. Often the only option left is to continue the part time jobs with a low income, making it difficult to establish their own household. In the worst case scenario, they have to join the many homeless in Japan. Some freeters also manage to start a successful self-employed career.

Some experts predict that Japan's aging population will create a labor shortage that will open more career options for freeters.

The marriage option

In the case of female freeter, the situation is slightly better. Traditionally, a Japanese woman was not expected to work after marriage but instead had to take care of the household and the children. This situation is changing only slowly, and a female freeter has the possibility to marry a more successful husband and to become a housewife. However, as men above the age of 30 often find it difficult to start a career, women above the age of 30 often find it difficult to find a husband. This is often compounded by high expectations for the future husband, desired to have the three highs, a high salary, a high education, and a high height.

Of course, for the same reasons male freeter are much less desired as husbands due to their inability to support a family.

Health and pension insurance

One problem most freeters overlook is that the many part time jobs usually do not include any health or retirement benefits. While a young person is usually in better health, youth eventually gives way to middle and old age, and health declines accordingly. Additionally, accidents may happen anytime in life. Subsequently, there may be a sudden health expense, which due to the lack of insurance has to be paid by the freeters or their parents. This will be difficult with a low income and small or nonexistent savings.

The biggest problem for the freeters is that the Japanese pension system is based on the number of years a person has paid into the system. Furthermore, the pension system pays only a small amount (see Culture of Japan), and therefore most career employees have a saving plan with their company. The freeter, however, usually has little or no pension insurance and little or no savings, which may force him or her to work beyond the usual retirement age. Additionally, Japan, as many other countries with similar pension systems, face the problem of an aging population. As the ratio of pensioners receiving money to workers paying into the system shifts, the whole system is put into jeopardy. It can be predicted that the current pension system will not work anymore in 30 years unless there is a drastic change in the demographics of Japan.

Freedom of Choice

The advantage of being a freeter is that one has more freedom of choice, and more time for hobbies or to pursue other dreams. Furthermore, if they are living with their parents, they do not have any living costs and can spend their entire income on their personal lifestyle. Therefore they may be able to realize their dreams more than a career employee with little time, at least while they are young.

Effect on Japanese society

The large number of freeters also have an effect on the entire society of Japan. First of all, while they are young they live with their parents and can spend their entire income. It is said that this spending helps the Japanese economy.

It remains to be seen how the society of Japan will handle a large number of workers trying to start their career in their thirties. It is possible that this will have a significant impact on the current corporate culture, and may change the hiring and employment practices in Japan. This may be especially true if there is a future labor shortage due to the aging population. It can be expected that the system may change to put more emphasis on skills than on tenure as is currently the situation.

Another problem is that many male freeters have difficulties marrying due to their low income, and therefore are expected to have children later in life or not at all. This will further reduce the already very low birth rate in Japan, compounding a number of other problems due to the aging population.

The increasing number of freeters also creates a problem for the Japanese pension system. Freeters pay little or no money into the system, yet the payments of the working population has to cover the pension payments of the retired population. The reduced overall payment into the system compounds an already existing problem with the pension system in Japan due to the aging population. This situation will become even worse in the future, as more people are expected to become freeters and as the ratio of employed population to retired population shifts with the aging of the population.

To counter this problem, the Japanese government established a number of offices called Young Support Plaza to help young people find jobs. These offices offer support and basic training about job hunting: for example, how to write a résumé. The demand for the services of the Young Support Plaza is not that high.

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