JCP proposes pension system that guarantees 50,000 yen a month

The Japanese Communist Party on March 31 proposed a pension system that guarantees everyone a minimum of 50,000 yen a month, including those who are not entitled to pension benefits.

In Japan, the number of people who are either without a pension plan or with inadequate benefits is increasing rapidly.

The proposal is to counter the government bill submitted to the current Diet session that will adversely change the pension system to force people to pay more premiums and further cut benefits.

The JCP also proposes that those who at present collect an inadequate amount of pension benefits be paid an additional 50 percent of the present amount.

The JCP says that pension funds needed to carry out its proposal should be raised by reviewing national expenditures and preferential taxation for large corporations. As fundamental countermeasures, the JCP proposal calls for a change away to a policy of defending jobs and income so that more workers can pay pension premiums.

The JCP stated that this proposal will help establish a lasting and reliable pension system that defends at least the people's constitutional right to subsistence.

At the news conference, JCP Policy Commission Chair Koike Akira criticized the government bill saying, "The proposed increase in the premiums and cuts in payments will peg the pension at a low level." He also opposed the policy of the Democratic Party of Japan because its proposal to finance the pension system with the consumption tax is intended to lessen burdens on large corporations. (end)