Ishiba Orders More Aid for Employment "Ice Age" People

   Tokyo, April 25 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Friday called for stepping up support measures for the so-called employment ice age generation, a term referring to people who had relatively fewer job opportunities after graduation.
   At the first ministerial meeting on assistance chiefly for the generation, Ishiba instructed related ministers to enhance support measures based on three pillars--aid for improvements to their employment and treatment, gradual support for social participation and assistance looking to their old age.
   The prime minister suggested that his administration will draw up specific support measures in June to reflect these in the government's basic policy for economic and fiscal management.
   The generation, now in their 40s and 50s, experienced difficult job-hunting in the 1990s or 2000s, when the labor market worsened following the collapse of Japan's bubble economy. Many such people still face problems including low wages and the possibility of low pension benefits in future.
   "There are still many people suffering from various difficulties," Ishiba said of the generation at the meeting. "It is an urgent task to provide appropriate and effective support to them according to their needs."

(2025/04/25-16:53)