After the government achieved its target of raising Japan’s average hourly minimum wage to ¥1,000 (about $6.80) this year, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was quick to set the next objective.

“The minimum wage needs to be raised further and in a stable manner,” the prime minister told a key economic panel meeting on Aug. 31, adding that Japan aims to lift the minimum wage to ¥1,500 by the mid-2030s.

Economists, however, have pointed out that just setting a higher minimum wage target will not really help spur Japan’s slumping wage growth, saying that the government needs to tackle other structural issues to change the trend.

Culled from Japan Times