Trust in Japan’s govt drops over pay data
Faulty surveys made wages look smaller
TOKYO: Nearly 80% of people have lost trust in the Japanese government’s economic indicators in the wake of a recent revelation that years of faulty wage data have been released, a Kyodo News survey showed yesterday. The data issue has led to some unemployment benefits and workers compensation going unpaid. In a nationwide opinion poll conducted on Saturday and yesterday, the support rate for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet was nearly flat at 43.4%, after it fell to 42.4% in December from 47.3% in November apparently over wrangling in the Diet about the passage of a bill to accept more foreign workers. The disapproval rate slightly declined to 42.3% from 44.1% in December. The survey showed 78.8% of respondents do not trust official indicators after the government said on Friday it had failed to pay over 50 billion yen (14.7 billion baht) in benefits to nearly 20 million people due to the labour ministry’s publishing of faulty jobs data for the past 15 years. The sampling errors date back to 2004 when the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s monthly labour survey, a key indicator of the country’s employment conditions, began skipping many business establishments with 500 or more employees, even though current rules require full coverage of such companies. Labour minister Takumi Nemoto said in a press conference there was a manual shared by those involved in compiling the data saying only some of the large firms needed to be surveyed, though he denied data was systematically manipulated to make wages appear smaller than they actually were. Some 69.1% of people polled in the weekend survey found Mr Nemoto’s explanation of and response to the matter insufficient, with only 18.0% saying the minister is addressing the issue properly. The incident triggered a backlash not only from people receiving benefits and compensation but also corporate executives who have been repeatedly urged to raise wages by Mr Abe’s administration. Among other recent developments, the public are supportive of the government’s response to South Korea’s top court rulings since last year ordering Japanese companies to compensate South Koreans for labour during Japan’s 1910-1945 colonial rule of the Korean Peninsula. The survey showed 80.9% supported the Japanese government’s rejection of the court orders, with 11.3% against it. Japan maintains that the issue of compensation was settled “completely and finally” under a bilateral accord to settle property claims signed alongside the 1965 Japan-South Korea treaty that established diplomatic ties. Tokyo recently requested Seoul to launch talks as a Japanese steelmaker faced the imminent seizure of its assets in South Korea. As for Mr Abe’s announcement earlier in the month that Japan’s new era name will be revealed one month before the upcoming imperial succession on May 1, 66.2% were in favour of the decision. Era names are widely used in Japanese calendars, newspapers and official documents.