Since a large proportion of all unemployment spells will probably fall under these two categories, the average entitlement duration for new benefit spells is likely to be considerably below 6 months, which is short relative to systems in other OECD countries. Only a minority of benefit claims are likely to qualify as “unemployed as a result of bankruptcy, dismissal, etc.”, However, in Japan workers tend to be described as “difficult-to-employ” due to age, disability or the depressed state of the regional labour market.