Government signals flexibility on ¥1,500 minimum wage target

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has signaled that the minimum wage in Japan might rise more slowly than previously expected.  

A draft of the Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform, which lays out the government’s economic and fiscal agenda for the coming year, indicates that the deadline for achieving a national minimum wage average of ¥1,500 ($9.25) per hour could slip a bit. It has gone from a hard, end-of-the-decade target to more of a flexible goal.

The document, which is set to be approved later this month, raises the possibility that the level sought won’t be reached until next decade.