Which generation is being treated the cruelest in modern Japanese society? It is the men in their forties and fifties.
The reasons for this are obvious. First of all, they are the “junior baby boomers,” and there are many of them in the baby boom. Then, around the time they started working, the “bubble economy” collapsed, coinciding with the worst of times, making it difficult for them to find jobs.
Normal people would have no problem with this, but “adults with developmental disabilities” who have difficulty finding regular employment due to their poor communication skills are forced to find non-regular employment and fall behind because they can’t make a career out of it. Even if they manage to find a job, they try selflessly, but due to the characteristics of their disability, they fail and are not rewarded at all. They are subjected to power harassment, etc., and become exhausted, suffering the tragedy of leaving their jobs. Naturally, once they leave the workforce, it becomes difficult for them to find a new job or try again, and as they get older, their withdrawal becomes more prolonged and the problem becomes more serious. People with mental disabilities and developmental disabilities are seen as nothing more than a “nuisance” by corporate management, making it extremely difficult for them to work even under the disability quota. This is in contrast to the physically and mentally challenged who receive adequate support and are able to find employment.
Sadly, in the Showa era (1926-1989), “adult developmental disorder” itself was not recognized, and even if the child had excellent grades, the problem would not be noticed, and even though it is not a psychological problem but a brain problem, the child would be treated like a healthy person and educated in the same way as a normal person, leading to secondary disorders. This leads to secondary disorders such as depression, AC (adult children), and C-PTSD (complex post-traumatic stress disorder), making it difficult for them to rebuild their lives.
In addition, people with mental disabilities and developmental disabilities have low incomes and have to pay high taxes, and the government only targets people in their 30s when it comes to the problem of withdrawal. In other words, people in their 40s and beyond, who have essential problems, are being left behind. In this way, even though they are the ones most in need of support and relief, the reality is the exact opposite, and they are the least understood of all generations. In addition to their unfortunate debut into the workforce, they are also the most economically disadvantaged, with the government, society, and corporations putting the blame on them, and they are forced to live with the inexcusable feeling of having their lives thrown away in the aforementioned ways.
At any rate, it is an urgent task to review the treatment of these people as soon as possible and put in place a system that will allow them to rise again. If we don’t take this issue seriously, it is clear that when they reach the age of 60, the cost of social security will be so high that it will put unprecedented downward pressure on society as a whole, and Japan will be in a more dire situation than ever before.
This is not a matter of “thinking” or “feeling” in a naïve and naïve way. It is not too much to assert, but rather too little to say. This is “the fact”, “the reality” and “the truth”. It’s not a matter of good or bad, it’s nothing more than a golden rule that can’t be described in any other way and has absolutely no room for doubt.