A Comparative Study of Unemployment Insurance System

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This research was designed to review the Japanese unemployment insurance system, which has been undergoing a structural change in recent years, in comparison with that of five countries, that is, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the United States, and China. Our activities include the following four aspects. Firstly, we examined the actual practices of the Japanese unemployment insurance system as well as its historical developments and the 2007 amendment of the Employment Insurance Law. Secondly, as the main body of this research, we studied the unemployment insurance system of the five counties, conducting interviews at the competent agencies. Each country has unique characteristics but there are also the common themes such as how to facilitate early reemployment and how to finance the system through economic changes. The information so gained is contained in the final report of our research. Thirdly, we expanded our research to cover minimum wage system as well, which forms workers' safety net along with unemployment insurance. Information on minimum wage of the five countries is also contained in the final report. Fourthly, based on all these efforts, we made presentations at the symposium of Japan Labor Law Association to discuss the Japanese systems of unemployment insurance and minimum wage. The presentations and the following discussion are contained in the Journal of Labor Law, No. 111 (2008).