Analyzing the Relationship Between Poverty and Work: Exploring ways to solve the problem of the working poor (Japanese)

International comparison analyses have clarified that the relative poverty rate among working households in Japan is high. Based on this fact, this study analyzed the relationship between poverty and work, using the Keio Household Panel Survey 2004-2010 (KHPS). Our study showed that households where the head of the household is working as a temporary worker have a higher probability of being in poverty than households where the head of the household is unemployed and not engaged in any other income-earning activity. However, concerning the poverty dynamic, households where the head of the household is working in any capacity including temporary work are more likely to exit from poverty than households where the head of the household is not working. Needless to say, households where the head of the household is working as a regular worker have the least probability of falling into poverty, and shifting from temporary work to regular work is an effective solution for the working poor. Because of this fact, our study also analyzed the probability of shifting from temporary workers to regular workers. Results for women showed that those who invest in self-development are more likely to make the shift from temporary workers to regular workers; accordingly, investing in human capital—for instance, in the form of self-training—is important for making this shift. Moreover, among the unemployed who are in poverty, those receiving unemployment benefits and investing in job-training are more likely to get out from poverty than those not eligible for unemployment benefits. This implies that it is necessary to build a support system for those who are not eligible for unemployment benefits.