Disabled people and the labor market in the 1950s: the Japanese experience

Abstract

AbstractOutbreaks of war create large numbers of disabled people. After Japan's defeat in World War II, the Japanese government, under the policy of GHQ, began to create labor policies for disabled soldiers and the general disabled. However, historical research on the labor market participation of the disabled in Japan has not progressed. This study examines the job placement program for the physically disabled in the immediate postwar period. The end of the war encouraged the participation of people with disabilities in the labor market. In the early 1950s, the Ministry of Labor actively tried to find jobs for the disabled to improve the lives of disabled soldiers and bring new labor market participation to disabled people. This research revealed an active debate on whether the participation of disabled people in the labor market should be promoted by coercive state policies requiring companies to hire people with disabilities or by public support. Through analysis of the labor market for disabled people in 1950s, we will provide hints for deeper thinking about who the workers are and what it means to work in our society.