Haves and Have-nots in Japan

Japan likes to think of itself as one giant middle class. But wrenching economic and social shifts are splitting the nation into ranks of haves and have-nots. Read this clip from TIME Asia Magazine:

"This increasingly distinct divide between rich and poor is so vivid in the national consciousness that it has been given a name: kakusa shakai (a society of disparity). It isn't hard to find statistical evidence of the phenomenon. In a land once noted for its armies of workaholic salarymen, part-time employees now account for 30% of the labor force.

In February, the government announced that the number of people on welfare rose 60% over the last 10 years, reaching 1 million citizens for the first time since the program started in 1950. And according to recent findings by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), 15% of Japan's households today are living in poverty (defined as having incomes that are half the national average or less). That compares with an average of 10% of households below the poverty line for all 30 OECD countries. In wealthy Scandinavia, the average is less than 5%. Japan's rich-poor divide is particularly worrisome, warns a January OECD report, because of the "lack of movement between the two segments of the work force, trapping a significant portion of the labor force in a low-wage category from which it is difficult to escape."

So, I guess the U.S. is not alone in having a divided society along economic lines. What else is new? It's a global reality and one that current business and economic policies have created.