Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2011 December 21 - 2012 January 5 [WELFARE]

Noda’s pension cuts take no thought for elderly’s hardship

The Noda government has reduced the budget for paying pension benefits in the next fiscal year by 600 billion yen, claiming that the current amount paid is too high in relation to consumer prices. The pension program for the handicapped and the program for disability benefits have also been reduced as well as childcare allowances for low-income one-parent families and special medical allowances for Hibakusha (atom-bomb survivors).

The government cites falling prices as a justification for the decrease in pension benefits. However, higher social insurance premiums and heavier tax burdens which severely hit the livelihoods of elderly people are not taken into account.

A man, 70, living alone in Chiba City, received a pension of 150,000 yen a month in 1999. His tax burden and nursing care premiums increased by 70,000 yen a year over the past 12 years while his pension benefits were reduced by 34,000 yen a year.

A recipient of a monthly 200,000 yen pension benefit has to shoulder an increased burden of more than 160,000 yen a year, resulting in a 210,000 yen decrease in after-tax income. The rate of decline in fixed income is far greater than the rate of price decline during the same period.

Pension benefits are the only income source for 64% of elderly households. Out of about 25 million people receiving old-age basic pensions, 8.29 million people, or one-third of the recipients, receive only basic pensions (national annuities). The average monthly benefit is 49,000 yen, and those who get between 30,000 yen and 40,000 yen account for the majority.

The basic expenditure in one-member households of those at 65 and over is 68,000 yen a month for food, housing, and utilities. Medical costs as well as transport and communication expenses are not included in this amount. Even the full basic pension at 66,000 yen a month cannot cover the expenditure for basic necessities let alone cover medical costs.

More than 560,000 elderly households (people over age 65) receive livelihood public assistance. The elderly recipients account for 45% of all beneficiaries on welfare. Cutbacks in pension benefits will further increase the number of welfare beneficiaries.

The Japanese Communist Party has proposed to reduce large public works projects and the military budget, and to secure funds for pensions by imposing on large corporations and high-income earners due burdens in accordance with their income and assets.

The JCP also demands that the government put a brake on corporate restructuring and unstable employment schemes so that the number of pension supporters be increased.