Labor ministers from the Group of 20 (G20) major economies on Monday adopted a joint statement calling for safe and healthy working environments for elderly people as the populations of their countries continue to gray. At the end of the two-day gathering in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, on “Shaping a Human-Centered Future of Work,” the ministers also agreed to work toward correcting the gender gap in employment.

The joint declaration adopted at the meeting pointed out that it is necessary to create a labor and employment environment suitable for the work of the aging population, and reward enterprises that treat the elderly population equally, and adopt a flexible labor and employment policy to ensure a healthy and safe working environment; The demand in the field of old-age care is expanding. We must increase investment in this area, provide guarantees in terms of wages and working hours, and improve the working environment. We must work hard to eliminate the situation of labor inequality between men and women and promote male household and parenting responsibilities.

As the representative of the presidency, the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan said that the current G20 members are generally facing the problem of population aging, and the proportion of the population over 65 is increasing. This may lead to a series of problems such as insufficient labor force and economic growth. Increasing the employment of the elderly population is the general trend. At the meeting, Japan introduced the work of the Japanese government in recent years to promote the improvement of the working environment and promote the employment of the elderly.

At the press conference after the meeting, the Japanese Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare said that Japan is facing a serious problem of aging. At the meeting, Japan shared its experience with representatives of participating countries and worked with countries to explore ways to improve the employment environment and respond to the aging of the population. process. Japan will continue to work with countries to promote related work.

The G20 Workers' Employment Ministers Meeting was held in Songshan City, Ehime Prefecture, Japan. This is the tenth Ministerial Conference on Labor Employment held since the establishment of the G20 Mechanism. It is also the first time that the population ageing is listed as One of the core issues. Japan is the chairman of this meeting and faces serious aging problems and hopes to make progress in this area.