Japan's Peculiarities from the Viewpoint of Well-being: gender, regular/non-regular employment and deflation

Abstract

Subjective well-being can be a useful indicator to address issues beyond the reach of normative economic analyses. Japan's subjective well- being is poor and does not match her income level, longevity etc. Although it is partly because of the character of the Japanese people, analyses indicate that it is also because of the outdated settings in the Japanese labor market, which have long been pointed out by international organizations. These outdated settings mar well-being by creating a large gap between regular and irregular workers, distorting work-life balance, enlarging gender gap, and subjecting companies to excessive cost-cutting competition. A medium-term approach is required to rectify this problem.