ワーキングプア

• 読み: ワーキングプア
• ローマ字: wakingu pua
• 発音: /waː.kiɴ.ɡu.pu.a/

意味

Working poor; people who are employed full-time but still cannot escape poverty due to low wages.

This English loanword hit Japan hard because it shattered the assumption that employment equals financial stability. An NHK documentary series in 2006 brought the concept to national attention, showing how contract workers, dispatch employees, and part-timers could work full schedules yet remain below the poverty line. It's closely linked to Japan's dual labor market of secure 'seishain' versus precarious non-regular workers.

例文

1. フルタイムで働いてるのに生活苦しいって、それワーキングプアだよね。
2. ワーキングプアの問題は非正規雇用の構造的な問題だと思う。
3. 最低賃金が上がってもワーキングプアから抜け出せない人はまだ多い。

使い方ガイド

場面: news, social issues, social media

トーン: serious, empathetic

正しい言い方

• ワーキングプアは個人の問題じゃなくて社会の問題だよ。 (Working poverty is a societal issue, not a personal one.)
• ワーキングプアを減らすには非正規雇用の待遇改善が必要。 (To reduce working poverty, we need to improve conditions for non-regular workers.)

避ける言い方

• 当事者に直接「ワーキングプアだね」と言うのは失礼 — directly labeling someone as 'working poor' to their face is insensitive

よくある間違い

• Assuming ワーキングプア only means unemployed people — it specifically refers to people who ARE employed but still poor

起源と歴史

From English 'working poor.' Entered Japanese public consciousness through a 2006 NHK documentary series. Became a defining social issue term reflecting Japan's growing non-regular employment crisis.

文化的背景

時代: Entered public discourse 2006, ongoing

世代: All ages in social discourse

社会的背景: Primarily affects non-regular workers

地域メモ: Used nationwide. Connected to Japan's structural issue of non-regular employment (非正規雇用) which affects roughly 40% of workers.