What is "freeter"

(other possible spellings are furītā, furiita, freeta, furiitaa, or furitaa) is a Japanese expression for people who lack full-time employment or are unemployed, excluding housewives and students. The term originally included young people who deliberately chose not to become salary-men, even though jobs were available at the time.

Freeters may also be described as underemployed. These people do not start a career after high school or university, but instead earn money from low skilled and low paid jobs.

The word freeter or freeta was first used around 1987 or 1988 and is thought to be a portmanteau of the English word free (or perhaps freelance) and the German word Arbeiter ("labourer"). Arubaito is a Japanese loanword from German. As German (along with English) was used (especially for science and medicine) in Japanese universities before World War II, Arubaito became common among students to describe part-time work for university students.