Extremely Low Salary of Japanese Animators

Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA) held a symposium about the working environment of Japanese animators in Tokyo on May 22nd. They reported that the average annual income of animators is considerably lower than that of normal office workers and 47% of them haven't signed an employment contract with the production studios.

Average Annual Income ($1 = 93 - 100 yen)
Animators
20 - 29y: 1.10 million yen
30 - 39y: 2.24 million yen

Male Office Workers (2008)
20 - 24y: 2.71 million yen
25 - 29y: 3.81 million yen
30 - 34y: 4.63 million yen
35 - 39y: 5.60 million yen

JAniCA concluded that it's impossible to foster young animators in such a poor working environment and there is a great fear for the future of the anime industry.

Sources:
NHK news
Nensyu-lab