[Opinion] Freeters

Japanese people are second to none when it comes to coining a new word. And one of the latest ones is `Freeter`, which combines English word `free` with German `arbeiter` meaning a laborer. `Freeter` refers to a young man or woman under age 35 who barely manages to have one temporary work after another instead of having a regular job. They live in a house owned by their parents, who used to work very hard for industrialization of the country, and enjoy expensive hobbies with the little money they earned. Geisuke Sauraira, a college graduate working as a part-time delivery truck driver, just skips the work when he feels like going out with his girlfriend. According to the New York Time, doing whatever they want is `the best part of being a freeter`.

One out of four college graduates in Japan, or some 2 to 3 million every year, become freeters, a Frankenstein created by the long economic recession in the country. With the unemployment rate among the young reaching up to 10.7%, not only it is hard to get a job in the first place, but also they will face the reality of restructuring, early retirement and old-aged divorces even after long hard work for the company. Having witness the reality, young people find no reason to work hard. Two of five young people do not want to become corporate employees, and four of five have quit their jobs, according to the statistics released by the Ministry of Labor in Japan. They tend not to think about their future seriously, either. They just can live with the loving parents, and the house will eventually be theirs. So they are classified as the so-called parasite family.

It now seems that we have brought in the freeter lifestyle from the neighboring country. Recruiting service firm Job Link recently conducted a survey to 3,156 people looking for jobs and found that 31% of the respondents now make their livings with part-time jobs instead of regular ones. 55% answered that they chose to be part-timers facing the frozen job market, and 41% cited as reasons `to have more leisure time`, `not to be a part of the hierarchical organizational culture` and `to avoid job-related stress.` The results indicate that quite a few people chose not to have regular jobs rather than being forced to.

Life must be less burdensome to those young people, but the old generations see them as irresponsible. Given the growing proportion of the old population in Japan, in particular, parents lament that young children feed on their parents instead of working hard to compensate pension payments to old people. Without having steady jobs, they are unwilling to marry, which in turn adversely affects the growth of population. Parents have raised them dearly, but now the grown-up children are lazy and reluctant to take on challenges. The rub is that it is not just a problem with Japan. Unless the government comes up with drastic measures to cut the youth unemployment rate, our young ones could soon lose the happiness of hardworking and the hopes for future, turning this country into a freeters` paradise.

Kim Sun-deok, Editorial Writer, yuri@donga.com