Freeter (フリーター furītā) (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.