Why has the government's slipshod statistical management continued unquestioned for many years? The ruling and opposition parties must squarely confront fundamental problems.
The House of Representatives Budget Committee has held intensive deliberations on the labor ministry's inadequate surveys for monthly labor statistics. The opposition camp has focused on the circumstances by which the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry changed its sampling survey on medium-sized corporations whose employees number 30 to 499 each.
Despite formerly having replaced all target companies every few years, the ministry switched to a new method in January 2018, by which some corporations were replaced every year. As a result, pay rate increases were inflated.
The opposition parties pressed the government for answers, saying the method may have been manipulated to "orchestrate success" for the so-called Abenomics economic policy. "[Government] statistics have never been manipulated to make policies look better," Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in response.
The change in the survey method was aimed at ensuring economic conditions were appropriately reflected in labor statistics while also moderating the fluctuations accrued from the changeover in target selection. The method change was approved by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. The opposition's act of especially criticizing the changeover seems to be somewhat unreasonable.
In reference to the fact that one of the prime ministerial secretaries at the time urged the labor ministry to consider improving its selection method in 2015, the opposition has insisted the move was intended as "political pressure." Abe denied the claim, saying there was "nothing unusual" about the secretary's awareness of the matter. The prime minister should continue to carefully explain the aim of the change.
The root of the problem is that the ministry has continued erroneous surveys regarding large-scale corporations for as many as 14 years, thereby distorting pertinent statistics. This has resulted in employment insurance and other benefits being underpaid.
Prevent recurrence
Heedlessly following a precedent, successive ministry officials in charge neglected to rectify the problem. Successive labor ministers have failed to notice the error, too. It is indispensable to apply a scalpel to the ministry's organizational governance.
The ruling and opposition parties should find out the cause of the problem while also conducting constructive discussions about preventive measures.
It is also necessary to reconsider what should be the appropriate method for the government as a whole to employ in the execution of statistical duties.
There are a total of 1,940 government personnel who specialize in statistical work. By population ratio, the figure is smaller than those in Western countries. Meanwhile, there are 56 kinds of basic statistics on which the government bases its policy formulation and the private sector makes managerial judgments. There are also more than 200 kinds of general statistics.
Have personnel and budgets been ensured on a commensurate scale? It is important to inspect the present condition and implement measures where necessary. Consolidation of statistical material whose necessity has lessened is inevitable.
The basic statistics are handled by nine government institutions, including the Cabinet Office and the labor ministry. The advantage of this arrangement is that each government office finds it easy to ensure the results of statistics under its supervision are reflected in its policies. On the other hand, some have said that the arrangement causes harmful effects in the form of bureaucratic sectionalism and lacks unity and efficiency.
Strengthening the functions of the Statistical Commission, an organ at the internal affairs ministry that plays a key role in issuing directives for statistics-related matters, will be an important task.
How should the implementation system for statistical surveys be improved, based on a look at the whole picture? The Diet should actively debate the issue as the legislative branch of government.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 19, 2019)
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
