We have recently seen considerable transformation of the contents as well as process of policymaking for employment and labor issues. The first aim of this article is to overview the transformation, along with four factors underpinning it. Further, there are three or four major trends in the policy contents. As a result, two new policymaking processes have been added to the conventional process. The second aim of this article is to consider the research issues suggested by the overview. Some of the research issues were discussed in the four presentations of the plenary session of the 116th conference of SSSP in May 2008. One of the other major research issues regards the new legal policy for industrial relations adjustment, along with the transformation of the industrial relations system itself.

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This paper examines the opinion that employment protection regulations exercise a negative influence on employment, and that deregulation of employment rules is needed. In this paper I criticize that opinion through investigations of the OECD. The results are 1. The present economics arrives at the conclusion that the influence of employment protection regulations on employment is 'ambiguous' 2. The level of Japanese employment protection regulation is very weak and its reform is unique in terms of international comparison. So, at least today, deregulation of employment protection regulation is not a policymaking issue in Japan. At the end of this paper, I criticize the opinion that a negative external influence is exerted by employment protection regulations on the employment system.

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Gender equality in the workplace is a priority policy of the United Nations system. It constitutes an important piece of any drive towards fair globalization. This report reviews some new and some traditional ILO and UN approaches in applying international standards for gender equality at work which have proved to be particularly effective in improving national policies, including those of Japan. It looks into three issues taken up in the ILO 2007 Global Report of Equality at Work, namely definition of discrimination, measuring discrimination, and instituting pay equity. These three impose a particular challenge for Japan. The recommendations of ILO and UN supervisory machinery on the revision of a legal provision (with regard to pay equity from the ILO and the definition of discrimination from UN) have had an impact on Japan's policy. The report also refers to forthcoming 2009 ILO/UN events which may well provide further impetus for Japan to revisit its policies. Of particular importance is Japan's sixth periodical report on the Convention of Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women by the UN Committee.

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Deregulation has progressed in the field of labor under neoliberal policies, which began in the 1980s. Such deregulation became particularly active around 2000; as a result, employment and labor policy underwent significant change under Prime Minister Koizumi. This change in labor policy can be considered the embodiment of neoliberalism. This paper aims to analyze the structure and positioning of the actors that took part in the alteration of labor policy and to clarify the current state of deregulation and its relationship to the opposition. In particular, the paper will emphasize policy reversals since 2006 and explore the background and factors that have given rise to the recent shift in the tide.

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In Korea, flexible labor market measures such as relaxing discharge regulations and introducing the labor dispatch system were enacted after the economic crisis in 1997. The number of non-regular workers increased, becoming a social problem marked by the suicide of several workers and working conditions worse than those of regular workers. In 2007, so-called non-regular worker protection-related laws were enforced to solve the problem. According to the laws, management has to employ part-time workers or contracted workers as permanent workers if it employs them sequentially for more than two years. In addition, management must employ temporary employees as direct employees if it uses them sequentially more than two years. And the laws include clauses prohibiting discrimination against non-regular workers without a rational reason. There have been several responses to the laws such as regular staff transition of non-regular workers, conversion of non-regular workers into indefinite contract workers without increasing labor conditions, purification of the job area and outsourcing. In addition, the government switched about 67,000 public sector non-regular workers to employment without defined periods in 2007. We need to pay attention to how the law will seek to resolve the issue of non-regular workers.

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In Japan, the living conditions of many single-mother families make it increasingly difficult for them to maintain even a subsistence level of income because of the recent recession and the nature of current welfare policies. Self-help groups for single mothers are now called upon to spearhead the demand that their interests be considered through increased social action that protects their livelihoods. The case study revealed that none of the three self-help groups of single-mother families met any of the four conditions, namely 'human resources', 'access to the important actors' (e. g. policy makers), 'networking with other related groups', and 'publicity'. As they do not meet these conditions, it is difficult for them to take effective social action. To eliminate such limitations on their action, it is necessary to develop for each group a network of sympathizers that will increase their political influence. Bureaucrats of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare take the lead in framing policies for single-mother families in Japan. This is called the elite model (or the bureaucrat-led model). As many people take the opportunity to collaborate by working towards a common aim, there is some hope that they will have an effect on policies for single-mother families.

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In July 2008, long-term care insurance was enacted in Korea after an evaluation of the Japanese model of long-term care insurance and a review of domestic factors. The purpose of this paper is to describe long-term care insurance in Korea and to clarify its institutional background and characteristics. Using data on the long-term care insurance program in Japan and factors specific to Korea such as socioeconomic development and the current domestic political and healthcare systems, institutional characteristics were defined. The following four characteristics were identified as integral to the provision of long-term care insurance in Korea: 1. Universal coverage undetermined by age and limitation of eligible persons. 2. Simplification of service type and use of special cash benefits. 3. Unification of insurers and lack of enforcement of care-manager systems. 4. Minimization of government financial support and stratification of co-payments. The Korean government has a negative view of the sudden increase in the number of elderly receiving low levels of care and the cost-effectiveness of the care-management system. Additional study may be called for.

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Given the increase in nursing care recipients as a result of population aging and changes in family structures, finding mechanisms to ensure that a sufficient number of adequately trained caregivers are available is an issue faced by all advanced economies. Against this background, the purpose of this paper is to examine policies to support for family caregivers and ensure the supply of adequately trained caregivers from a comparative perspective by focusing on the case of Germany, which has a nursing care insurance scheme that shares many similarities with Japan's. The analysis provides useful lessons for Japan, such as with regard to expanding the support for family caregivers, improving the wages of nursing care personnel, and revising the training of nursing care professionals.

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About 7,800,000 refugees have migrated to the Federal Republic of Germany since the latter half of World War II, accounting for 16 % of the population of the country in the 1961. As of 1950, the largest number of refugees in the Federal Republic of Germany had come to the State of Bavaria. In this paper, the refugee policy and the integration of German refugees in Bavaria are analyzed. The Bavarian State adopted various refugee policies in collaboration with the Federal Republic of Germany. As a consequence, the Bavarian State was able to socially integrate about 1.6 million refugees. Up to 1950, about 40,000 firms had been established by refugees. Moreover, the divide that existed between refugees and locals in 1950 had almost disappeared by 1960. For this reason, the refugee policy adopted by the Bavarian State is considered to be successful.

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