Abe.

• Position: Social insurance programs of Japanese female part-time workers - Brief Article

Abe documents patterns of participation in social insurance programs by female part-time workers in Japan and asks how the structure of the social insurance system affects that participation. Because participation in social insurance programs -- such as public pensions, health insurance, and Employment Insurance -- is required only for workers who put in enough hours or earn enough, many part-time workers are not required to participate. Currently, the financial incentives for participation are weaker for married women and older workers than for others. Abe finds that from 1990 to 1995, for workers who satisfied the hours and earnings conditions for...