Urban Workforces Heading to the Agricultural Labor Market

A Case Study on Temporary Workers in a Sugar Mill Factory

Abstract

The working conditions of the unskilled labor force in Japan are becoming increasingly unstable, resulting in employment deterioration; this is also true for urban areas. This study generated profiles of unskilled urban labor forces temporarily employed in the agricultural sector as follows. First, our statistical analysis showed that the wage gap between urban and rural areas has been shrinking since the 1970s, and the wage standard of urban unskilled laborers has fallen since the 2000s. Second, based on a case study of a sugar mill factory in a remote area of Okinawa Prefecture, we found that the unskilled laborers were involved in a series of unstable and temporary jobs, but those in the agricultural market could sometimes be under better terms than those in urban areas. Third, the fact that such workers are single and earn wages based solely on labor power makes it easy for them to enter into and adapt to the agricultural labor market.