This is the record of discussion of the plenary session of 143^rd Biannual Conference of JASPS, titled “The Pandemic and the Future of Social Policy”. This includes the chairman’s introduction, the discussant’s comments, speakers’ replies and free discussion.

The formation of social policy in Japan was pioneered by the Factory Law of 1911, and was developed mainly through the regulation of factory workers’ working conditions and the introduction of the health insurance scheme. The Society for Social Policy Studies, established in 1897, held its first conference in 1907 on the theme of the Factory Law and stimulated public opinion for social policy. However, the Society ceased its activities in 1924.

Until now, the relationship between the historical development of social policy in Japan and infectious diseases has hardly been discussed. The Spanish influenza that struck Japan 100 years ago has also been forgotten. However, interest in countermeasures against infectious diseases such as tuberculosis increased at that time, culminating in the enactment of the Health Insurance Law of 1922 and the revised Factory Law of 1923.

This paper focuses on the formation of social policy in modern Japan, paying special attention to the impact of infectious diseases. The focus is on policies enacted during emergencies to sustain people’s daily lives. Based on these findings, I offer suggestions for the future of social policy.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss issues for reconstructing the social security system by describing the reality of self-employment in the face of the Corona crisis. Specifically, first, what is the actual situation of the self-employed, and second, who are the people whose living conditions have worsened particularly, based on the social survey data conducted to understand the relationship between self-employment and social security systems. Third, I analyze who received the sustainability benefit, one of the emergent support measures, and what impact the use of the system had on their businesses and lives. The main results of the analysis show that the pandemic affects self-employed individuals differently depending on gender and family structure, and that the use of emergent support measures does not necessarily improve business prospects. In light of these findings, I would like to present what I consider to be the key issues in examining “the future of social policy”, which is the purpose of the common theme.

This article has revealed a multilayered structure whereby COVID-19 pushes women into harsh situations. Women suffer from the “intimacy disease” thanks to their roles in taking care of others in their families or workplaces. When they need public support, it is also women who try hard to provide public services in spite of their own unrewarding positions as non-standard public labourers. If we use the wider definition of care as “activities to support life”, the value of care has not been properly appreciated in this society, and so the time and effort spent on it are not considered as the necessary work hours to keep society moving. Women’s suffering in various forms share the common phenomenon of accumulating care burdens on women. A rebuilding plan with a gender perspective is necessary for the construction of the “new normal” after COVID-19. Gender equality is an indicator that measures whether care is positioned appropriately in society, and whether “a society that embraces life” has been achieved.

Among numerous global issues, international cooperation to solve the global health crisis has developed relatively smoothly. Cooperation significantly benefits every nation state, such as controlling the virus effectively. Contradicting these precedents, there is unresolved conflict between the US and China with regard to the “My Country First” policy in the context of the current pandemic. Even after the inauguration of the Biden administration, which emphasizes multilateralism, the US-China conflict is not resolved. This paper examines the history and structure of Global Health Governance as the background of the conflict. The former part of the article explores how international health cooperation has related to cooperative movements worldwide, whereas the latter part argues about what requires to be done to bring an end to the pandemic, reviewing the present response from the international society.

This paper attempts to answer the question that can only be answered by following the historical development process of poverty theory while focusing on the norms related to discrimination. The question posed here is : “How can we embed the logic of positive discrimination correction in poverty theory, and how can we theoretically overcome ableism ? In the process of answering this question, it will be revealed that the cause of the limitations of contemporary poverty theory lies in the lack of theoretical criticism of the notion of “parity of esteem”. Based on this, this paper argues for the necessity of replacing the notion of “parity of esteem” with “respect for self-determination. At the same time, it will be argued that it is necessary to internalize the logic of positive discrimination correction into poverty theory, and to encourage the practice of positive discrimination correction.

Although the practice of social work calls for advocacy of people’s rights, currently, this is not sufficiently adhered to. In this paper, we explore the infringement of rights as a problem of social structure. Employing a theoretically ordered construct of rights advocacy, we examine the literature on nursing care insurance services and the adult guardianship （power of attorney） system to explore the components and causes of infringement of rights. Our findings highlight the scarcity of social resources caused by a lack of financial and human capital among service providers. This scarcity has also been influenced by the policy-driven marketization of nursing care and the urbanization of the population. Additionally, slogans such as “Our Affairs, altogether” （“Wagakoto, marugoto” in Japanese） justify the notion that the lack of social resources should be overcome by self-help alone. Such phenomena are examined with reference to Johan Galtung’s theory of structural violence. We also argue that social welfare should entail advocacy against the infringement of rights created by structural violence.

The most recent debate on the theory of poverty was done between Amartya Sen and Peter Townsend in 1980s. Its aftermath extends to the present authors. Ruth Lister, reviewing the debate, wrote that she agreed with Townsend, but still she confessed her understanding of Sen’s argument. The core of the controversy should rest on the question where the vanishing point of poverty is. And even Sen didn’t succeed the definition of poverty because his concept is based on the methodological individualism. Both Sen and Townsend lack in the factor of social recognition. They cannot integrate redistribution and recognition. And my idea tells that the controversy can be solved by seeing it from the concept of self-determination. The debate between Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth was done on the integral concept of redistribution and recognition. However, they didn’t present the concept. Due to my theory, it is self-determination. From this point of view, we can have a new perspective on the policy on poverty, free from the reminiscence of the poor laws. And basic provisions for secure life and secured human rights will make “monadic society” based on the social norm of “merit-free egalitarianism”.

The employment rate system is at the heart of Japan’s policy on the employment of people with disabilities ; however, many people with disabilities are also employed by small companies to which the employment rate does not effectively apply. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the structure of employment of people with disabilities in companies that are not covered by the employment rate system. This study examines the history of employment of people with intellectual disabilities, approaching the reality of the situation concerning the employment of people with disabilities in companies not covered by the employment rate system. Specifically, the following three points will be clarified upon : 1） the employment of people with intellectual disabilities was on the rise even before the employment rate system became applicable ; 2） the wages of people with intellectual disabilities have been adjusted according to their abilities ; and 3） companies gave considerations to the characteristics of people with intellectual disabilities. Through these examinations, we show that people with intellectual disabilities are a conditionally functioning workforce in companies not covered by the employment rate system.

This article focuses on the strike of the Korean Railway Workers’ Union against railway privatization and the solidarity of university students in 2013. This article examines the activities of railway unions to establish social solidarity before and after the strike, the reasons why university students supported the strike, and finally, mechanisms for how the union and civil society could form solidarity. This article concludes that the KRWU particularly valued solidarity with civic groups in its struggle against privatization, and that the establishment of “social publicity theory” played an important role in the formation of solidarity. The case of KRWU is a useful model that other labor unions can use to build solidarity with civil society.

To examine the impact of postponement of childbearing on the desire to have a second child, we investigated the relationship between fertility treatment and the desire to have a second child. Since the critical challenge in estimating the analysis of health production studies is accounting for endogeneity of health inputs, we used an empirical model for the endogeneity of health inputs to estimate the effects of fertility treatment experience on the desire to have a second child.

First, the results confirmed the negative impact of age on the desire to have a second child. The findings show that not only the age of the wife but also the age of the husband is important in family formation to have a second child. Second, we confirmed the negative impact of fertility treatment experience on the desire to have a child. Those who have experienced fertility treatment have a strong sense of medical cost burden, and also those who have experienced fertility treatment are in a situation where they are not working. Although it depended on the age of the wife, in general, the experience of fertility treatment has a negative impact on the desire to have a second child.

This study analyses the incentive that led the private sector to be entrusted with consultation services, which are positioned as part of social policy, as well as the impact of this phenomenon. Further, it examines in-home care support centers and community comprehensive support centers to clarify the policy process and impact of outsourcing.

The private sector was introduced to reduce the rigidity of consultation in in-home care support centers.

In in-home care support centers, the scope of private contracting was limited to consultations made in direct contact with the client. On the other hand, in the case of community comprehensive support centers, private contracting was linked to the Long-Term Care Insurance and this system was required to be applicable in municipalities throughout Japan. For this purpose, the outsourcing of the entire consultation service to the private sector was enabled. Consequently, the administration strengthened the aspect of control over the contractors, resulting in a paradoxical situation in which the originally intended elimination of the rigidity of consultation has been hindered.

Since the 2010s onward after the Great Recession in Europe, strong awareness that the active labour market policies focusing on supply side do not function in recessions has led to a lot of interest in developing policy instruments for labour demand side. What policy instruments are the ‘triggers’ for ‘employer engagement,’ that is, what triggers employers to be involved actively in addressing the societal challenge of promoting the labour market participation of vulnerable groups ? Based on this question research has been accumulating.

Many of research on ‘employer engagement’ are exploratory ones, using typology and description of employers’ motivation for and commitment on active labour market policies. Meanwhile, one important framework has been becoming common : it sees employers as human agent, who perceives, interprets the institutional environments and the particular situations and reacts to them : it considers labour demand as plastic construct mediated by employer’s perception. The concepts and framework developed so far will give useful suggestions to similar research in Japan.