Empirical Study on life-course of immigrant workers from country to big town in prewar Japan

战前的日本，人口增长很快。农民的儿子，不包括继承人，由于得不到土地，只能在城里找工作，其中一部分人在20岁以下就找到了工作，其中一部分是在义务小学毕业后不久或几年后找到的。另一部分人在服兵役或考试后找到了工作。前者经过几年的学徒后成为技术工人，而后者由于没有机会接受在职培训而成为非技术工人或低水平工人(如日工)。农民的儿子大多在没有提前找到工作的情况下进入大城镇，往往在一段时间内处于失业状态。工人从出生地进入大城镇，不需要赡养父母。他们只需要养活他们的核心家庭，所以他们的工资水平即使太低而不能生育他们的直系家庭，也是足够的。以这低工资为基础的国际竞争力，在这些工人所能提供的范围内是可以维持的。在低工资下，普通工人买不起自己的房子，所以他们对房子或出租房间的需求使老年人拥有的房地产有利可图。长期生活在大城镇的老年人没有年金制度也可以过上适度的生活。

In prewar Japan the population increased rapidly. Peasants' sons, excluding inheritors, not being able to get lands, they had to find jobs in towns.One part of them got jobs at the age younger than 20 years old, immediately after or several years after the graduation of compulsory elementary school. The other part of them got jobs after the military service or after the test for it.The former type of workers became skilled workers after a several-year apprenticeship, while the latter type of workers became unskilled workers or lower level workers (for example, day workers) because they could not have the chance to be under on-the-job-training.Most of peasants' sons entering big towns without finding their jobs in advance, they often remained unemployed for a certain period.Workers, having entered big towns from their birthplace, needed not to support their parents. They needed to support only their nuclear families, so their wage level was sufficient even when it was too low to reproduce their direct line families. The international competitiveness based on such low wage could remain as far as such workers could be supplied.Under the low wage, ordinary workers could not buy their own houses, so their demand for houses or rooms for rent made real estates possessed by the old profitable. The old people who had lived for a long time in big towns could lead a moderate life without a annuity system.