Pension for 2.5 months can be lost under HL&W ministry plan

In the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry's pension reform plan starting from April 1st, 2004, premiums will be increased to 1.5 times and pension payments will be reduced by 20 percent (2.5 months) at maximum.

This came to light during questioning by Japanese Communist Party House of Councilors member Koike Akira in the House Budget Committee meeting on November 26.

HL&W Minister Sakaguchi Chikara said that pensions would be up to 50 percent of the worker's take-home wage, but in response to Koike's question had to admit that the guarantee covers only one-fourth of the recipients of employee pensions.

In the National Pension system, which is set at a lower level than the employee pension system, the average amount paid to self-employed workers is between 30,000 and 40,000 yen a month. Koike argued that a 20 percent cut in pensions will make it impossible for such pensioners to make ends meet. The HL&W minister could not refute this assertion.

Koike called for the existing 236 trillion yen in pension funds to be used systematically for pension payments. He also demanded that investment of the funds in the stock market, which caused a loss of 6 trillion yen, be immediately stopped.

Koike also criticized the banks and asset management companies assigned to investing money for obtaining 17.6 billion yen in commissions despite incurring the loss. Revealing that the pension fund management was undertaken mostly by ex-HL&W ministry officials and ex-bankers, Koike said that the government should make clear the structure of collusion concerning vested interests over the pension fund. (end)