Entering the Precariat : Young People’s Precarious Transitions in Japan

Abstract

As various styles of unstable work have spread in advanced society, more young people are suffering from precarious transition s. Standing argues that precarity is concentrated in particular groups and a new social class of precarious people, the Precariat , is emerging (Standing. The Precariat ; The new dangerous class. London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2011). Using longitudinal data from the Youth Cohort Study of Japan, we examine whether a Precariat is emerging among Japanese young people. Our first finding is that signifiers of a precarious condition are concentrated in particular young people. Three in ten have continuously remained precarious condition of non-regular employment or jobless after their leaving education until their mid-twenties. Only a few of those who started their job career with unstable one have eventually reached stable condition. The second finding is that those in a precarious condition often remain there with little social support. Not only is the wage gap between regular and non-regular employees wide, most of the precarious group do not rely on social security either as those without a record of regular employment are rarely eligible for unemployment insurance. The third finding is that the precarious group reported lower self-esteem and life satisfaction . It seems that precarity affects their subjectivity to a greater extent. However, there are a few differences between genders, and it is difficult to attribute the low self-esteem of females to factors purely relating to precarity . Our findings suggest that a particular group of young people who are continuingly kept in precarity is emerging in contemporary Japan. It is similar to Standing’s Precariat , as far as they share common precarious conditions. However, when we focus on their subjective feelings, there are a few complexities which require further examination.