Japan is one of the busiest countries in the world. It is also one of the oldest, so for an aging population, the need for caregivers is really great. The Japanese society is really looking for caregivers who are willing and reliable when it comes to taking care of their elderly.
Also Read: How to Find a Job and Work in Japan
As a caregiver, you have so many responsibilities. To fulfill these tasks, you need to be skilled enough to deal with clients that have symptoms such as confusion, memory loss, mood swings, aggression, delusions and others. If you have what it takes to become a caregiver in Japan, then you should read about how much you can earn for your hard work and expertise.
Disclaimer: The information posted here is based on the personal experiences shared by the OFW in the video below. Please let this post serve as a guide only. If you have specific questions, you may ask the OFW by commenting on their video on their accounts.
Salary of a Caregiver in Japan
You can learn a lot about the salary of a caregiver by doing a bit of searching online. One thing you can do is look up videos of Filipinos sharing everything there is to know about working as a caregiver in Japan.
In fact, this article highlights the information shared by an OFW YouTuber named Juvielyn Lucero. In this video, she talks about how much a caregiver earns in Japan. This was a requested video from one of her viewers or subscribers. Aside from the salary, she also talks about the deductions as well. If you’re interested, you can watch the full video in the link immediately below:
In the video, she showed a physical copy of the pay slip for her latest month’s salary. She mentioned that she didn’t need to open the envelope to know how much she will be getting. That’s because she already saw how much she earned through a banking app on her smart phone.
Factors Affecting Salary of a Caregiver
There are many factors that affect how much salary you will earn as a caregiver in Japan, or what your salary deductions are. These factors include the following:
- The facility where you work
- Which prefecture you work in
The typical rate of a caregiver in Japan falls under the range of 125,000 JPY to 180,000 JPY. But as a starting salary, there are facilities that offer as low as 100,000 JPY according to the vlogger. She adds that this already includes everything that the caregiver gets, deductions and additions included.
To emphasize, the vlogger mentioned that there are facilities that offer very low salaries for caregivers. That’s why she mentioned that she is blessed to be given a salary that falls within the average.
According to the vlogger, her basic salary was 130,000 JPY per month. That was her basic salary when she first started, and in Philippine Pesos, that is equivalent to around 60,000 PhP.
Last year, she was earning 132,000 JPY per month for the basic salary.
Every year, this salary increases. Aside from this basic salary, they also enjoy additional payments. These include the following:
- Night Shift – this is for an additional 4,000 JPY per night.
- Health allowance -20,000 JPY.
- Improvement allowance
- Learning study allowance
- Extra additions
Night Shift Differential
The vlogger mentioned that in one month, they only have three night shifts. This means that they get a night shift differential of 12,000 JPY.
She said though that the number of night shifts you can have per month depends on which facility you are working in. In fact, in a separate vlog, a caregiver mentioned that he took 6 night shifts in a month.
The vlogger also mentioned that she has friends that have 12 night shifts in one month. Moreover, she said that 3 night shifts is too much for her. There are days when she feels like she doesn’t want to do night shifts anymore because she is too tired.
If you are interested in becoming a caregiver in Japan, this is one thing you need to ask your employers or examine in your contract; how many night shifts are you allowed to have in a month? You need to know the answer to that question before you decide to accept the position or not.
Allowances
Aside from the monthly salary you will be getting, you will also receive a monthly health allowance of 20,000 JPY. At least this is what the vlogger mentioned she receives per month. This could vary depending on which facility or prefecture you are working in.
You will also receive improvement allowance. If your employers see that you are improving in your job, or you are hard working. This employment allowance used to be 5,000 – 7,000 JPY. But in 2020, that increased to 11,000 JPY.
They also received learning study allowance. This is for 2000 JPY per month. She advises that you check the contract your potential employer makes to see if you are also getting this kind of allowance.
Although she wasn’t able to point out in the video what this next extra payment is, the vlogger also mentioned that she started receiving an additional 8,500 JPY per month starting 2020. She is not sure if this is given to all workers in Japan, or only in Osaka which is the prefecture where she is working right now.
Salary Deductions
Aside from additions, you will also have salary deductions working as a caregiver in Japan. According to the vlogger, these deductions include:
- Health Insurance – 11,242 JPY
- Employment tax – 655 JPY
- Income tax – 620 JPY.
- Municipal tax – 8300 JPY.
- Welfare pension – 20,100 JPY
For the income tax, the vlogger mentioned that this amount used to be much bigger. However, she worked out all the papers necessary to inform the government that she has beneficiaries, namely her mother and her sibling. As a result, her income tax was reduced.
If you are deployed in your facility, you need to apply to have health beneficiaries. The facility will give you a form that you need to fill up. The facility will then take the responsibility of sending this form to the city hall so that your tax will be reduced.
The municipal tax is like the residence tax. In your first year in Japan, you won’t have to pay for this tax, which the vlogger finds to be really big. After one year, they will start deducting 8300 JPY per month for this tax.
As a side note, the vlogger mentioned that one reason Japan is rich and economically thriving is that all of these salary deductions are put to good use, and that there is no corruption. So she really can’t complain about these deductions because she can see where the money is going, and that she is enjoying the benefits first hand.
Total deductions
Without deductions like tax and insurance, your salary in Japan in caregiver is really high. However, because of the deductions, the vlogger mentioned that the total deductions from her monthly salary is 45,947 JPY, which is equivalent to around 21,500 PhP.
The good thing about some of these deductions, according to the vlogger, is that when you retire from work and leave Japan for good, you will be getting back the money you paid. As it turns out, it will just be like you are depositing money for the future.
Managing Salary
The vlogger mentioned that aside from these salary deductions, she will have to pay for bills like water, rent, electricity and gas. The question then is, how can you manage all these expenses given that your salary has many deductions.
Well, she said that all you have to do is save. Before spending on anything else, once she receives her monthly salary, she saves up on the total amount for the rent, bills, food, groceries, and other expenses.
Here are some of her monthly expenses:
- Electricity – 3000 JPY or around 1,400 PhP
- Water – 4000 JPY or around 1,800 PhP
- Gas – 5,000 JPY especially during the winter, or around 2,300 PhP
The vlogger said that when the weather is cold for a given month, she spends around 3000 JPY for electricity. You also use gas for the heaters during the winter, so during that season, expect your gas bill to increase significantly.
If it’s not winter, instead of paying around 5,000 JPY per month on gas, sometimes you only pay around 2,000 JPY, which is equivalent to around 900 PhP.
It is really imperative that you separate payments for your bills and other expenses once you receive your salary.
The vlogger shares the following tips in order to manage your income.
- Don’t always eat outside
- Save, since the cost of living in Japan is high
- Put your leftover food and just heat it later to save electricity.
- Don’t always give gifts to your friends and relatives
- Think of the future as well.
For food expenses, you will really spend a lot if you always eat out at restaurants. The vlogger suggests that you only eat out during special occasions, like when your salary arrives or it’s your birthday or whatnot. For all other days, it’s best if you just cook your own food.
She said that eating at restaurants in Japan is relatively expensive. As a caregiver, you need to save because the cost of living in Japan is high. Another tip: to save, you can just bring food that you cooked earlier to work.
Also, to save on electricity, just put your leftover food in the refrigerator and heat it later. In Japan, your salary is high but the deductions are also high.
To add, you are most likely working abroad because you want to help your family get out of poverty. Thus, on top of your expenses, you have to send money to the Philippines as well.
You may have other payments towards the Philippines as well, like for example, if you are financing a business or investment back home, then you will have almost nothing left of your salary at your disposal.
Therefore, you really need to be smart and creative to come up with strategies that will help you go by.
As an OFW, you need to be smart as well when it comes to managing your income. Your friends and relatives will ask you for gifts, and its okay to give but you have to put some sort of control into this as well.
Before you come home to the Philippines from Japan, you need to have savings and or investments so that your efforts in working as an OFW don’t go to waste.
Roles and Responsibilities of a Caregiver
Now that you know what the salary and deductions of a caregiver are, you also need to know what tasks await you once you decide to become one in the future. Here are some of the roles and responsibilities of a caregiver:
- Feeding, bathing and overall providing care to your client
- Ensuring that your client is taking their medicines at the right time.
- Ensuring that the medication needed is always in adequate supply.
- Helping the client take their medicine.
- Making scheduled appointments with the client’s family or doctor.
- Checking to see that the client is still generally in good health.
- Helping the client move around inside the house or even outside.
- Being responsible for the client’s hygiene and personal care.
- Ensuring that the client gets the right kind and amount of exercise for their therapy.
- Reporting to the authorities if there are any unusual events.
- Being quick and responsible whenever an emergency situation occurs.
There you have it. The salary of a caregiver in Japan is quite high, but the expenses are high as well. However, these deductions are ultimately for your own benefit; your life in Japan will be truly enjoyable and hassle-free because of your contributions, and you really know where your money goes to.