A123　  As of June 2005, Japan had 61,178 unions, 1,627 (2.6%) fewer than in the previous year, and 10.13 million union members, 170,000 fewer than a year earlier. It was the eleventh consecutive year that union membership had fallen. The total working population numbers 54.16 million, so the estimated membership rate is 18.7%, 0.5 points below the previous year's figure when the rate was 19.2%. The correct answer is (c). After the Second World War, union membership represented 55% of the working population and, even at the start of the 1980s, was at the 30% level. In the second half of the 1980s, however, union membership began to decline and was under 20% in 2003. Thus, it might well be said that the labor movement is facing a life-or-death crisis.