(Mainichi: February 19, 2016 – p. 26)

 Wages of female and non-regular workers, including part-time employees, reached the highest level ever, according to the latest survey on wage structure released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Feb. 18.

 According to analysis of the ministry’s Wage and Labor Welfare Statistics Division, the trend toward “a rise in the length of employment years and the number of women in managerial positions is a major factor in increased wages for women, and the tight labor market helped boost wages of non-regular workers.”

 The survey covered private enterprises with ten or more employees and asked them about wages paid in June 2015. There were 50,785 responses to the survey.

 According to data, full-time workers, including non-regular workers, were paid an average of 304,000 yen in that month, a year-on-year increase of 1.5%. The amount of wages paid to women rose 1.7% on the year to a record 242,000 yen. The wage inequality index, which defines wages of men as 100, remained unchanged from a year before, at 72.2%. (Abridged)