Editing Freeter (section)

{{Short description|Underemployed young adult in Japan}}
{{multiple issues|{{original research|date=July 2008}}
{{update|date=August 2016}}}}
[[File:Fast Food Service Cashiers in Japan (no watermark).png|thumb|Service worker in Tokyo, Japan.]]
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In Japan, a {{Nihongo|'''''freeter'''''|フリーター|furītā}} is a person aged 18 to 34 who is unemployed, [[underemployment|underemployed]],  or otherwise lacks full-time paid employment. The term excludes [[Housewife|housewives]] and [[education in Japan|students]].<ref name=":1" />

Freeters do not start a career after high school or university, but instead earn money from low-paid jobs.

The word ''freeter'' or ''freeta'' is thought to be a  [[portmanteau]] of the [[English language|English]] word ''free'' (or perhaps ''freelance'') and the [[German language|German]] word ''Arbeiter'' ("labourer"). ''Arubaito'' is a [[Japanese language|Japanese]] [[gairaigo|loanword]] from ''Arbeiter'', and perhaps from ''Arbeit'' ("work"). As German (along with English) was used in Japanese universities before [[World War II]], especially for science and medicine, ''arubaito'' became common among students to describe part-time work for university students.

This term was coined by part-time job magazine ''From'' ''A''  editor Michishita Hiroshi in 1987 and was used to depict a "free" worker that worked less hours, earned pay hourly instead of a monthly paycheck like regular full time workers, and received none of the benefits of a regular full time worker (holiday pay, sick pay, bonus pay, paid leave).<ref name=":05">{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/859674266|title=Super girls, gangstas, freeters, and xenomaniacs : gender and modernity in global youth cultures|date=2012|publisher=Syracuse University Press|others=Brison, Karen J., Dewey, Susan.|isbn=978-0-8156-5169-7|edition=1st|location=Syracuse, N.Y.|oclc=859674266}}</ref>

The meaning of the term switched connotations from positive to negative after the [[Japanese asset price bubble]] broke resulting in a [[Lost Decades|recession]] in the 1990s. In the 1980s, the term was seen in a positive light signifying the freedom to explore other alternative options for employment for fun when the [[economy of Japan]] was prosperous with many different job opportunities.<ref name=":05"/> In the 1990s and 2000s, the term switched to a negative connotation and Freeters were seen as burdens on society.