Protecting jobs and employment during disasters: lessons from employment insurance system in Japan

This paper situates Japan's experience within a global context of rapidly escalating disaster frequency and economic loss, arguing that social protection responses to crises must extend beyond traditional non-contributory social assistance. It documents Japan's three-layer social protection architecture — with employment insurance as the first line of defense — and focuses in particular on the system's dual support mechanism: unemployment benefits (basic allowance) for displaced workers, and Employment Adjustment Subsidies enabling employers to retain staff on paid leave rather than resorting to layoffs. The paper traces the legal frameworks that allow these mechanisms to be rapidly activated and expanded during designated disasters, describes the administrative infrastructure of Hello Work offices and the MHLW, and documents the financing logic that combines contributory premiums, reserve funds, and national treasury backstops to absorb large shocks.

The paper uses the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake case study as an example and illustrates the system's reach and limits: roughly 51% of unemployed individuals in the three most affected prefectures (Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima) received basic allowance benefits, though coverage gaps were stark — Fukushima's insurance enrollment rate was nearly 30 percentage points below the national average, reflecting the vulnerability of workers in fisheries, agriculture, and tourism. Employment Adjustment Subsidies are estimated to have prevented between 300,000 and 400,000 job losses in the immediate aftermath. The paper also documents the operational resilience of Hello Work offices, including improvised data entry arrangements and the national dispatch of over 20,000 support staff within months. Based on this evidence, the paper offers seven recommendations: embed flexibility in legal frameworks, build strong administrative networks, expand coverage to vulnerable groups during crises, ensure financing sustainability, simplify enrollment and delivery, promote continuous institutional learning, and integrate social protection with broader disaster risk management strategies.