| From The Newspaper (31) Gender (7) |
April 20, 2023
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| He subscribed to two newspapers. When he read the article from one of them, an English newspaper, he was shocked. The article's title was, "Japanese Women Earn 75% Less than Men". The newspaper was the English version of 'Yomiuri Shinbun', but it wasn't their story. Its distributer was "Bloomberg'', although he didn't know whether it was the summary of an article or an all original story: Japanese Women Earn 75% Less than Men Bloomberg Japanese women may have doubled their income over the past 20 years, but they still earn only a quarter of what men are paid, according to government data. The average female monthly income was 83,896 yen ($630) per month in February, according to a survey of households by the Statistics Bureau of Japan released this month. While that's nearly twice what they were earning per month in 2000, that's far less than the average 345,645 yen salary for male workers, it showed. Japan has championed working women as the answer to the country's shrinking population and lackluster economy, but around 70% of female workers are employed in part-time or non-permanent jobs, which often mean lower pay and fewer opportunities for advancement. Economic uncertainties have meant more companies are shifting away from lifetime employment practices, but 63% of male workers are still employed in full-time positions. If a woman who lives outside of this country and wanted to work in this country read this article, maybe she would not come to this country to work, he guessed. However, about the article, he could say that the numbers were maybe correct, but the article could give misinformation to the readers. Those female workers willingly chose to earn less. It was because of a tax exemption. He vaguely knew about the details of the exemption, so checked on the internet. There is an exemption for a wife whose husband is working for a private company  or a public agency, except those whose husband is self-employed. This exemption has two types. One: If a wife's annual income is under XX, she doesn't need to pay the monthly premium for pension (but she can get pension in the future). It was roughly 1.3 million yen. As monthly fees for pensions are expensive, if a woman works more than 1.3 million yen, her take home income would decrease; in some cases, her take home income would be less than 1.3 million yen. Hence, she would be losing money although she makes more. 1.3 million yen divided by 12 months equals 108,333 yen. Another exemption is for income tax and resident tax. Roughly, if the income exceeds 1.03 million yen, income tax and resident tax will be applied. 1.03 million yen divided by 12 months equals 85,833 yen. So, some women whose husbands are employees think about choosing to work under 108,333 yen (or 85,833 yen) a month because of this. And this exemption may match the wives' needs, who want to work less and to use more time for raising children, etc. Of course, female workers with no husband tend to work full time and their salary tables are the same as male workers. He came up with the idea and searched about other countries: Whether they have those types of exemptions. The document he found was a little old, it was published in 2007. The researcher compared Japan, America, England, France, Germany, and Sweden. The 1.03 million yen type of minimum income tax exemptions are applied in all of these six countries. On the other hand, 1.3 million yen type of wife exemptions are applied only in Japan, America, England, and France; but, not in Germany and Sweden. （To be continued） |
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No. 518
*distributer :配信者
*double :二倍にする
*lackluster :冴えない、精彩を欠く
*willingly :進んで
*exemption :控除
*self-employed :自営業の
*premium :掛け金
*hence :それゆえに
*salary table :給料表