NEET - Japan

Japan

NEET is distinct from freeter, the classification for those who continually move between low-wage jobs.

The demographic prevalence of NEETs has been indicated in employment statistics. Japanese politicians expressed concern about the impact on the economy of the growth in the NEET population. The estimated size rose from 480,000 in September 2002 to 520,000 in September 2003, according to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.

Other surveys by the Japanese government in 2002 presented a much larger figure of 850,000 people who can be classified as NEET, of which 60% were people aged 25 to 34.

Unlike most Western European countries, Japan's unemployment benefit terminates automatically after three to six months. Many NEETs in Japan are supported by their parents. This support can enable the form of social withdrawal known as the hikikomori phenomenon, which some believe is a reaction to the oppressive Japanese work environment. Routine demands for overtime and personal sacrifice have led to death due from overwork (karōshi) in extreme cases.

This reaction against excessively demanding work can be seen in the rise of the Hodo-Hodo zoku: Employees who avoid promotion to minimize stress and maximize free time. NEETs, hikikomori, and freeters might be young people who cannot or will not work to meet the expectations of older generations.

Japanese NEETs include many who have rejected the accepted social model of adulthood. They do not seek full-time employment after graduation, or further training to obtain marketable job skills through the governmental Hello Work schemes. They might be reacting against the traditional career path of the salaryman. Some experts attribute this to the extended economic stagnation during the 1990s, which led to high unemployment among young people (2.13 million by some estimates). Many freeters, who were nominally employed, became NEETs.

The system of lifetime employment has disintegrated in the face of economic pressures from globalization. The availability of lifelong employment in a single company has become increasingly untenable for both corporations and individuals.

Professor Michiko Miyamoto describes the situation as a "breakdown of the social framework forged in an industrial society, by which young people become adults."