Domestic work - Kanairoudo

Japanese: 家内労働 - かないろうどう

Under capitalism, home work refers to a form of labor in which raw materials, machinery, tools, and other means of production are provided by a business (manufacturer or wholesaler), which is then processed, and the finished or semi-finished product is delivered to the business for processing fees. Home workers are de facto wage laborers who do not own the basic means of production, and are distinguished from independent self-employed persons. Intermediate exploitation can occur when an intermediary (contractor) is placed between the business and the home worker. Home workers usually work in isolation at home, with helpers such as family members living with them, and are contrasted with manufacturing and large-scale mechanized industry, which are based on a collaborative model.

[Goga Kazumichi]

history

The historical development of domestic work is as follows:

(1) Domestic labor as an independent urban cottage industry or a side job on a farm during the stage of small commodity production before the establishment of capitalism
(2) Wholesale-based cottage industries subordinated to merchant capital during the manufacturing stage of the transition to capitalist production
(3) A form of homework organized by capital on the periphery of factory production under the establishment of large-scale mechanized industry. (3) can be divided into two cases: when the capital of large-scale mechanized industry assigns homework to peripheral processes that are difficult to incorporate into the machine system, and when small and medium-sized capital utilizes homework with low wages and low working conditions to compete with factory production. Comparing (1), (2), and (3), in (1), homeworkers occupied a unique historical position as the bearers of homework, which represented the stage of industrial development at that time, whereas in (2) and (3), homeworkers become wage laborers subordinate to merchant capital and large-scale industrial capital. Homework under large-scale mechanized industry is called modern homework. It is carried out by unskilled laborers such as women, the young, the elderly, and self-employed people who have fallen into ruin. They belonged to a stagnant state of a relative surplus population that had been excluded from large-scale industry and agricultural operations, and were subjected to low wages, excessively long working hours, and unsanitary working conditions, which played a role in depressing the working conditions of all workers.

[Goga Kazumichi]

Legal restrictions

Even in Britain, the first country in the world to enact Factory Acts, legal restrictions on home work were left unregulated until the end of the 19th century, but social reformers such as the Webbs characterized home work as a "hard-labour problem" and insisted on the need for legal restrictions. This led to the enactment of the Trade Boards Act (a type of minimum wage law) in 1909. Following Britain, Germany enacted the Domestic Work Act (1911), France the Domestic Work Act (1915), and others.

In Japan, during the industrial "rationalization" process after World War I, homework became a social issue after the ILO (International Labor Organization) criticized social dumping of Japanese products by Western countries, but the Factory Act (enacted in 1911, enforced in 1916) did not apply, and homework was left unchecked. The Labor Standards Act (Act No. 49, 1947), enacted after World War II, applied to all workers regardless of employment status, but homeworkers, such as those doing side jobs, were exempt from the law through administrative interpretation. The Minimum Wage Act of 1959 (Act No. 137, 1959) finally incorporated the determination of the minimum wage for homeworkers in relation to the minimum wage, and this was carried over to the Homework Act of 1970 (Act No. 60, 1970). The law went beyond determining minimum wages and established regulations covering all aspects of home work, including clarifying the terms of contract through the issuance of a home work handbook, correcting working hours, giving notice of contract termination, wage payment regulations, safety and health improvement measures, and establishing a home work council.

[Goga Kazumichi]

The current situation in Japan

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's "Survey on the Actual Condition of Domestic Workers," the number of domestic workers in Japan increased throughout the period of high economic growth. It peaked at 1.81 million in 1970, 850,000 in 1962 (Showa 37), and 1.84 million in 1972 and 1973 (plus 200,000 co-living relatives who helped out). However, with the shift to a low-growth economy triggered by the oil crisis (1973), the outsourcing of work to domestic workers decreased due to the effects of production adjustments. As a result, the number of domestic workers has rapidly decreased from 1.56 million in 1975 to 1.15 million in 1985, 550,000 in 1995 (Heisei 7), 330,000 in 2000, 210,000 in 2005, and 150,000 in 2009.

The ratio of men to women has remained the same since the peak until 2009, with women accounting for over 90% of homeworkers. By type, the overwhelming majority of homeworkers are housewives and other home-based workers (137,000 in 2009), with the remainder made up of full-time homeworkers whose main occupation is the head of the household (7,000 in the same year) and part-time homeworkers who work in their spare time from their main occupation (1,000 in the same year). By industry, nearly 80% of homeworkers are engaged in textile-related, machinery and equipment, and miscellaneous goods manufacturing. By region, they are concentrated in prefectures with large cities such as Aichi, Shizuoka, Osaka, and Tokyo.

The working conditions of homeworkers are even lower than those of other non-regular workers. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's Survey on the Actual Conditions of Homework (2006), the average hourly wage of female homeworkers (458 yen) is less than half the hourly wage of female part-time workers (940 yen, according to the Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2006). There is also a large disparity in wages with male homeworkers (688 yen per hour). The average age of homeworkers is higher than that of general workers (63.9 years for men and 55.2 years for women), and the number of years of experience working in homework is noticeably longer (18.8 years for men and 11.5 years for women). As a considerable number of homeworkers are engaged in dangerous and hazardous work, improvements are needed not only in wages but also in health and safety.

As mentioned above, the number of home workers is on the decline, but since the late 1990s, a new form of teleworking using information and communication devices such as computers and the Internet has been increasing. The number of teleworkers is said to be several hundred thousand to one million, but there are no accurate statistics. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare's "Survey on the Actual State of Teleworking Using Information and Communication Devices" (2001), 70% of teleworkers are women, 30% of whom have children under the age of six. 55% of women are under 30 years old, which is younger than part-time workers. Jobs with a large number of orders include "engineering, drafting, design," "document input," "data input," and "writing and translation." The reasons for starting teleworking are mostly "being able to work flexibly at one's own pace" and "being able to balance work and housework, such as childcare and elderly care." On the other hand, teleworkers face various challenges in terms of trouble with clients, health management, and skill development, making it difficult to secure stable work, and there is also the problem of low unit prices. While teleworking offers insight into future work patterns, it also currently has the same unstable employment aspects as traditional home-based work.

In 1996, the ILO adopted the Home Work Convention (Convention No. 177), which aims to protect and improve working conditions for home workers, including those working at home, including teleworkers, in addition to traditional domestic workers. However, Japan has yet to ratify it.

[Goga Kazumichi]

"A Commentary on Domestic Work Laws" by Terazono Shigeaki (1981, Labor Administration Research Institute)" ▽ "The World of Domestic Work" by Kamio Kyoko (2007, Gakushu no Tomosha)" ▽ "Yearly editions of the Survey on Domestic Work compiled and published by the Ministry of Labor's Women's Bureau" ▽ "Yearly editions of the White Paper on Women's Work compiled by the Ministry of Labor's Women's Bureau (21st Century Vocational Foundation)" ▽ "Telework" by Sato Akio (Iwanami Shinsho)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

資本主義のもとでの家内労働とは、業者（製造業者または問屋(といや)）から原材料や機械・器具などの生産手段の提供を受けて加工を施したのち、製品または半製品を業者に納入することによって加工賃を得ている労働形態をいう。家内労働者は、基本的な生産手段を所有していない事実上の賃労働者であり、独立した自営業者と区別される。業者と家内労働者との間に仲介人（請負人）が介在することによって中間搾取が行われることがある。家内労働者は通例自宅で同居親族などの補助者とともに孤立して作業に従事しており、協業形態を原則とするマニュファクチュアや機械制大工業と対比される。

［伍賀一道］

歴史

家内労働の歴史的発展過程は次のとおりである。

(1)資本主義成立以前の小商品生産段階の独立した都市家内工業や農家副業としての家内労働
(2)資本制生産への過渡期のマニュファクチュア段階で商人資本に従属した問屋制(といやせい)家内工業
(3)機械制大工業が確立したもとで工場生産の周辺部に資本によって編成された家内労働の形態
　(3)には機械制大工業の資本が機械体系に包摂しにくい周辺工程を家内労働に担当させる場合と、小零細資本が工場制生産に対抗するために低賃金・低労働条件の家内労働を利用する場合とがある。(1)(2)(3)を対比すると、(1)では当時の工業の発展段階を代表する家内工業の担い手として家内労働者は独自の歴史的位置を占めていたのに対し、(2)(3)になると家内労働者は商人資本や大工業資本に従属した賃労働者となる。機械制大工業のもとでの家内労働は近代的家内労働とよばれる。その担い手は女性や年少者、高齢者、没落した自営業者などの不熟練労働者である。彼らは大工業や大農業経営から排除された相対的過剰人口の停滞的形態に属し、低賃金、過長労働時間、不衛生な作業環境のもとに置かれ、労働者全体の労働条件を押し下げる役割を果たした。

［伍賀一道］

法的規制

家内労働に対する法的規制については、工場法が世界に先駆けて成立したイギリスにおいても19世紀末まで放置されていたが、ウェッブ夫妻らの社会改良家は家内労働を「苦汗労働問題」と位置づけ、その法的規制の必要性を主張した。これは1909年の賃金委員会法Trade Boards Act（最低賃金法の一種）の制定をもたらした。イギリスに続いてドイツの家内労働法（1911）、フランスの家内労働法（1915）などが制定された。

　日本では第一次世界大戦後の産業「合理化」過程で、ILO（国際労働機関）において欧米諸国から日本商品のソーシャル・ダンピングが非難されたのを契機に家内労働が社会問題化したが、工場法（1911年制定、1916年施行）の適用もなく、家内労働は野放し状態に置かれていた。第二次世界大戦後に制定された労働基準法（昭和22年法律第49号）は雇用形態を問わず全労働者に適用されたが、内職などの家内労働者については行政解釈によって同法の適用は除外された。1959年の最低賃金法（昭和34年法律第137号）においてようやく最低賃金とのかかわりで家内労働者の最低工賃の決定が取り入れられ、これは1970年の家内労働法（昭和45年法律第60号）に引き継がれた。同法は最低工賃の決定にとどまらず、家内労働手帳の交付による委託条件の明確化、就業時間の是正、委託打ち切りの予告、工賃の支払い規定、安全衛生改善措置、家内労働審議会設置など、家内労働全般にわたる規制を定めた。

［伍賀一道］

日本の実情

厚生労働省の「家内労働実態調査」によると、日本の家内労働者は高度成長期を通して増大してきた。1962年（昭和37）の85万人から1970年の181万人へ、そして1972、1973年には184万人（このほかに同居親族の補助者20万人）とピークに達したが、石油危機（1973）を契機とする低成長経済への転換の下で、生産調整のあおりを受けて家内労働者への委託が減少した。これに伴い家内労働者数は1975年の156万人以降、1985年115万人、1995年（平成7）55万人、2000年33万人、2005年21万人、2009年15万人と急減している。

　ピーク時から2009年まで男女の比は変わらず、女性が家内労働者の90％以上を占めている。また類型別では、主婦などの内職的家内労働者が圧倒的に多く（2009年13.7万人）、残りは世帯主が本業として従事している専業的家内労働者（同、0.7万人）、本業の合間に従事する副業的家内労働者（同、0.1万人）からなっている。業種別では繊維関連、機械器具、雑貨製造などに従事する家内労働者が8割近くを占めている。さらに地域別では愛知、静岡、大阪、東京など大都市を抱えた都府県に集中している。

　家内労働者の労働条件は、他の非正規雇用労働者と比べても一段と低水準である。厚生労働省「家内労働等実態調査」（2006）によれば、女子家内労働者1時間当りの平均工賃（458円）は、女子パート労働者の1時間当り賃金（940円、「平成18年賃金構造基本統計調査」による）の半分に達しない。また男子家内労働者の工賃（1時間当り688円）との格差も大きい。家内労働者の平均年齢は一般労働者と比べて高く（男子63.9歳、女子55.2歳）、家内労働に従事してきた経験年数の長期化が目だっている（男子18.8年、女子11.5年）。家内労働者のなかには危険有害業務に従事している者も相当数存在しているため、工賃面にとどまらず安全衛生上の改善が必要である。

　前述のごとく、家内労働者は急減傾向にあるが、これとは別に1990年代後半ごろよりパソコンやインターネットなど情報通信機器を用いた新たな形態の在宅就業（テレワーク）が増加している。その人数は数十万人とも100万人ともいわれるが、正確な統計はない。厚生労働省「情報通信機器の活用による在宅就業実態調査」（2001）によれば、テレワークに従事する人の70％は女性で、そのうち30％は6歳以下の子供を有する。女性の55％は30歳未満で、パートタイマーに比べると若い。発注量の多い仕事は「設計、製図、デザイン」「文書入力」「データ入力」「ライター、翻訳」などである。テレワークを始めた理由として「自分のペースで柔軟に働ける」「育児や介護など、家事と仕事の両立が可能」などが多くを占める。他方で、注文主とのトラブルや、健康管理・能力開発などの面でさまざまな課題を抱えており、仕事を安定して確保することがむずかしく、また仕事の単価が安いという問題もある。テレワークは未来の労働形態を予測させる面と同時に、現状では旧来型の家内労働と同じく不安定就業の側面をあわせもっている。

　ILOは、1996年に従来の家内労働に加えてテレワークなどを含む在宅労働者をも対象として、その保護や労働条件改善を目的とした「在宅形態の労働に関する条約」（177号条約）を採択したが、日本はいまだ批准していない。

［伍賀一道］

『寺園成章著『家内労働法の解説』（1981・労務行政研究所）』▽『神尾京子著『家内労働の世界』（2007・学習の友社）』▽『労働省女性局編・刊『家内労働の調査』各年版』▽『労働省女性局編『女性労働白書』各年版（21世紀職業財団）』▽『佐藤彰男著『テレワーク』（岩波新書）』