There are not enough jobs for people. This started about 20 years ago and is now a global phenomenon.
Well, those days are gone as Japan’s worst recession since World War II continues. Japanese unemployment rate in June 1999 hit a record high as the US unemployment rate hit historic lows. The world’s second largest economy has been struggling as the US economy burst the seams through the 1990’s.[i] The numbers are startling. The unemployment rate for Japanese men between the ages of 15 and 24 is 11% way above the official national 4.8% unemployment rate. Increasingly, the disenchanted (Japanese) are staying in school longer, taking up temporary jobs, or becoming what the Japanese now call freeters – people who make a living juggling part time work.” Sounds like our slackers of a few years ago.[ii]
[i] Abrahams, Paul, “Japanese Unemployment Hits Record,” Financial Times, August 1, 1999, p. 4.
[ii] Ono, Yumiko, “For Japanese Grads, A Job is No Longer a Matter of Degree,” Wall Street Journal, June 14, 1999, p. 1.