pension3

70 percent oppose government-proposed pension bill

Nearly 70 percent of people are opposed to the bill to cut pension benefits and increase the premiums, a bill that the ruling parties are rushing to railroad through the Diet. The great majority of the public is complaining about the misgovernment regarding the pension system under the current economic recession.

On April 23, Akahata reporters interviewed passers-by on the street around JR Shinjuku Station in Tokyo concerning the adverse revision bill.

Half of the respondents said they knew nothing or almost nothing about the bill to increase pension premiums and reduce benefits.

Most young respondents said that they feel something wrong about the bill to impose heavier burdens but smaller benefits on them and feel anxiety about their future if they cannot receive their due benefits.

Many criticized the wasteful use of the pension premiums as the government failed to manage facilities constructed using huge amounts of accumulated pension premiums and ended up losing the premiums invested in stocks.

They also expressed anger at the scandal in which an executive of the Social Insurance Agency had siphoned off the premiums into his entertainment expense account.

A 66-year-old man said he does not receive benefits because he could not keep up with the premiums after his business went bankrupt. "The government plan will only help create more people who are not eligible for pensions like me," he added. Another man, 36, said, "Without questioning the government's responsibility in regard to the wasteful use of the pension premiums, I can't swallow the move to increase the premiums."

Many respondents showed their expectations for the Japanese Communist Party when the Akahata reporters explained the JCP's pension policy calling for the establishment of a system to guarantee at least a 50,000-yen benefit by the government, imposing appropriate amount of burdens on large corporations, and increasing the number of workers who can pay premiums. (end)