University of Tokyo

Abstract
Survey Number 0152
Survey Title Survey of Employment Actualities among Middle and Old Age Individuals Employed in Small Companies in Large Urban Areas, 1997
Depositor The Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training
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Educational Purpose Only available for research.
Period of Data Use Permission One year
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Summary Employment of the middle-aged is in crisis. The rapid aging of society and severe economic condition have not only pushed up the age qualified for receiving public pension but also challenged the prevailing retirement age system itself. We at the Japan Institute of Labour have continued research study of aging-related problems by launching a project called the "Comprehensive Study of the Retirement Process." This survey, which is part of the project, was conducted for the specific objective of clarifying the current state of small employers' employment management in Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures as well as the corresponding employment state of the middle-aged workers who are currently employed by these small companies. The survey thus consists of two questionnaires. We identified small companies as a critical area of study because they hire more older people and offer a retirement age system less frequently than larger companies, and also because older workers are known to be self-employed or family-employed more often than not. In addition, small companies are the destination of senior employees at larger companies, which have been pressured to push them out by means of lending or decruiting. The survey specifically sheds light on the occupational life and career of the older workforce.
Data Type quantitative research: micro data
Universe Small companies employing less than 100 people in Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama, and Kanagawa.
Unit of Observation Individual,Organization
Sample Size 3,000 sampled; 1,024 effective responses from the employers and other 683 from the middle-aged workers.
Date of Collection 1997-03-01 ~ 1997-03-01
March, 1997
Time Period 1997 ~ 1997
Spatial Unit kanagawa
saitama
The Tokyo Metropolis (Itabashi, Ohta, Shibuya, Sumida, and Bunkyo Wards and Hachioji City), Saitama Prefecture (Urawa City), Kanagawa Prefecture (Naka-ku in Yokohama City), and Chiba Prefecture (Chuo-ku in Chiba City).
Sampling Procedure 3,000 companies were selected in consideration of industrial composition from among the small companies (with less than 100 workers) located in the aforementioned cities/wards in the Greater Tokyo Area.
Mode of Data Collection A research company dispatched researchers to the companies to place questionnaires. For the Employers' Questionnaire, researchers subsequently revisited the sites to collect the answers. For the Employees' Questionnaire, the workers were asked to send their answers by mail.
Investigator The Japan Institute of Labour
DOI 10.34500/SSJDA.0152
Sponsors (Funds)
Related Publications (by the Investigator) The Japan Institute of Labour (March, 1999) Sogo purojekuto "Rodo karano intai katei ni kansuru sogo-teki kenkyu"--Daitoshiken shokibo kigyo no chukonensha no shuro jittai. Chosa-kenkyu hokokusho No. 120. (Research Study Report No. 120. The General Project "Comprehensive Study of the Retirement Process from Labor": The State of Employment among Middle-Aged Workers at Small Companies in the Greater Tokyo Area.)
Related Publications (based on Secondary Analysis) List of related publications (based on Secondary Analysis)
Documentation [Jigyonushi Chosa-hyo][Gen'eki jugyoin Chosa-hyo]
Major Survey Items Demographic items:
Age; regional mobility; place of residence and type of city when compulsory education was completed; number of siblings and Respondent's birth order when compulsory education was completed; marital status; age married; R's age when first child was born; R's age when children first became independent and when all become independent; whether R has a wife; wife's occupation (form of employment, industry occupation, title, number of employees); wife's educational background; annual household income; R's annual income.

Questionnaire items:
[Employers' Questionnaire]
(1) Company profile: industry; form; date of establishment; changes in management, etc. (2) Respondent's (=President's) background: job-switching experience, and profiles of previous firms and of R at those firms; how R assumed presidency; skill acquisition at longest occupation, and period of skill formation, etc. (3) Outline of personnel management: characteristics of older workers and their way of working; availability of retirement age system and employment practices for older people; mid-career hiring of middle-aged people (mid-career employees and their previous work, important wage determinants, important employment determinants); sufficiency of regular workforce; former employees now
independent, their characteristics, and current relations with them; labor management and company welfare policy, etc. (4) R's profile: sex; age; last school completed; occupational licenses/qualifications; marital status and spouse's work status; type of dwelling; annual income; satisfaction as compared to large firm white-collar employees of the same generation; evaluation of occupational life so far; successor; intentions for continuing management.

[Employees' Questionnaire]
(1) Respondent's profile and work situation: sex; age; seniority; health; marital status; living standard; last school attended; employment route; form of employment; duties; status/title; annual income; average number of hours worked per day; degree of satisfaction; what R is proud of about himself/herself; licenses/qualifications. (2) Job-switching experience and last job: number of jobs switched; age at which R quit last job; seniority with last job; period between job left and job found; employment-seeking activities; usefulness of last job experience/knowledge; relationship between R and current employer; changes in wage; availability of a retirement age system at last job site; reasons for having quit; occupation and status/title at last job site; annual income at the time of quitting; what R wanted last employer to do; mental condition at the time of quitting. (3)Longest occupation held, period of its formation, etc. (4) Evaluation of occupational life so far and demands on employment in old age: future occupational life desired; reasonable retirement age; form of employment and wages desired; consideration R expects from company; worries, etc.
Date of Release 2000/04/07
Topics in CESSDA Click here for details

Labour relations/conflict
Retirement
Topics in SSJDA Employment/Labor
Economy/Industry/Management
Version 1 : 2000-04-07
Notes for Users Data Sets are written in Japanese.