著者

加瀬 和俊

出版者

国立歴史民俗博物館

雑誌

国立歴史民俗博物館研究報告 (ISSN:02867400)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.171, pp.25-41, 2011-12

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本稿は高度成長期における出稼農民の実態と彼等に対する国民の意識の変化について検討する。高度経済成長期には学歴の向上とあいまって近代的な事務・技術職が増加したが,同時に建設業・下請工業・零細商業等の単純労務職・不安定雇用も増加した。後者の底辺的労働市場の労働者は,すでに農業従事者となっていた者が季節的に労働力需要地に移動して,出稼労働者として働く形態が典型的であった。出稼農民に対する人々の見方は当初は同情的であった。農業所得が少なく生活が困難であるために,一年の半分前後の期間を家族と離れて工事現場に寝泊まりして労働しなければならないという彼等の厳しい状況が,人々の同情を誘ったからである。しかし多くの出稼農民が毎年出稼を終えて帰郷するたびに繰り返し失業保険金を受給しているという事実が広く知られるようになると,こうした同情が薄れ,次第に批判的見方が強まった。彼等が掛金よりもずっと多額の保険金を受け,その結果として失業保険財政が悪化し,一般加入者の掛金が高くなっているという労働省の説明を受けてマスコミがこれを広く報道したためである。農民に対する批判は,米価が政治的理由で不当に高められ食管会計が赤字を抱えていること,農民が税金をごまかしていること等の批判も加わって,強められた。そうした世論の変容と同時に,農村においても就業機会が増加して失業保険金受給の条件が弱まってくるという変化があり,失業保険の受給を既得権と主張していた出稼組合の立場は後退せざるをえなかったし,出稼農民の保険金受給を支援してきた地元市町村,職業安定所の対応も彼等に対して厳しいものに変わっていかざるをえなかったのである。This article reports the actual status of migrant farmers in temporary employment and the changes in people's awareness about them in the high-growth period. In the high-economic-growth period, together with improvement of educational attainment, the amount of modern clerical work and technical work increased. At the same time, however, simple labor or unstable employment in the construction industry, the subcontracted industry, and small-scale businesses also increased. In the latter bottom labor market, as a typical example, workers from rural countries who had already been engaged in agriculture seasonally moved to places with demand for labor and worked as migrant workers. At first, people were sympathetic to migrant farmers working in temporary employment. This was because of their difficult life conditions, whereby they had to stay at construction sites away from their families for about half a year because their agricultural income was low and life was hard, drew people's sympathy. But the fact that many migrant farmers working in temporary employment repeatedly received unemployment insurance payments every year when they returned home after finishing their work was widely known; this sympathy waned and people gradually looked at them with critical eyes. The Ministry of Labor explained that they received much higher insurance payments than the premium, resulting in worsening of the financial condition of the unemployment insurance business and an increase in the premium of general insurers, and the mass media widely reported it. This criticism against farmers was worsened by the further complaint that the price of rice was unjustly increased for political reasons, that the Foodstuff Control Special Account was in the red, and that farmers were avoiding payment of taxes. Concurrently with this transformation of public opinion, job opportunities were increasing in rural villages and their entitlement to unemployment insurance payments was weakening. As a result, the migrant workers union, which had claimed entitlement to unemployment insurance payments as a vested right, had to retreat, and the local governments and the employment exchanges that had supported migrant farmers receiving insurance payments were obliged to take strict action against them.