By Business Mirror – DECEMBER 23, 2016
THE bonus that millions of Japanese seniors enjoyed in recent years when their pension income remained the same while consumer prices and wages fell is about to end.
In an effort to make the pension system more sustainable as the elderly population swells, parliament approved a bill on Wednesday that will see payments drop when prices and salaries decline, not just rise when they go higher.
The government expects to pay seniors ¥54.8 trillion ($476 billion) in pensions in the fiscal year through March, equivalent of more than 10 percent of the economy. With almost 40 million people receiving pensions, and the number increasing, while the working-age population contracts, pressure on Japan’s finances is growing.
The Japanese system is divided into two main parts: A basic pension all workers, including the self-employed, pay into; and an additional scheme into which government and company employees make extra contributions. The first pays pensioners an average of ¥57,000 a month and the second, which is now compulsory for most workers, pays about an additional ¥100,000.
Payments made into the system by workers currently fund 66 percent of payments going out to pensioners. The government covers about 23 percent of payments, and the rest is generated from the pension funds’ investments.
The changes will come in steps and by 2021 it will be possible for the government to cut pension payments if wages or prices drop.
The rub for the government is the importance of pensioners in supporting consumer spending and domestic demand in Japan, both of which are vital for economic revitalization.
June 2025
Philippine Environment Month!
“Action for Nature, for the Future!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
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Monthly Observances:
1 Jun – World Day of Parents
5 Jun – World Environment Day
7 Jun – World Food Safety Day
8 Jun – World Oceans Day
12 Jun – World Day Against Child Labour
15 Jun – World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
16 Jun – International Day of Family Remittances
17 Jun – World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
20 Jun – World Refugee Day
25 Jun – Day of the Seafarer
27 Jun – Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day
Daily Observances:
June 6: Migrant Workers Day
June 19: Filipino Youth Day
June 25: Day of the Filipino Seafarer
