Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2016 August 24 - 30 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Japanese elderly have to keep working to make ends meet

Nearly 40% of the elderly aged between 65 and 69 have to keep working because their pension benefits are so low in Japan. In comparison, the percentage of working elderly of the same age range stands at 5.9% in France, 11.1% in Germany, and 19.5% in Britain. Even the United States has less than 30%.

The chief director of the Social Services Association which is a Welfare Ministry approved-public corporation working to support day laborers, Kanda Toyokazu, talked about a survey of 900 elderly who are registered at the association. Of the 900 elderly, 18.5% are non-pensionable and 25% are receiving pension benefits of only 87,000 yen a month on average. Kanda said, “In Japan, elderly people have to work to survive.”

Morita Katsuto, 75, lives in Tokyo and is a member of a local network supporting older people’s empowerment known as the “Silver” human resources center. Assigned by the center, he has been working up to four hours a day, nine days a month at a bicycle parking lot near the local railway station and getting a monthly income of about 30,000 yen. In 2015, he received an hourly payment of 870 yen from the center. Although his hourly earnings increased to 900 yen in April, the amount is still short of the Tokyo’s minimum wage of 907 yen.

“Silver” human resource centers were established across Japan with the aim to promote elderly people’s social participation by providing work opportunities where aged people can make full use of their knowledge and skills. The centers are subsidized by local governments. Each local center receives contracts from a municipal government or public organization, allots the contracts to registered members, and pays compensation for members’ work based on hours worked and type of work. However, center members are not covered by the Labor Standards Law or by the workers compensation insurance.

Morita said, “A member of my “Silver” human resources center who is over 80 and working at the same bicycle parking lot has never been absent from work despite his chronic foot pain. Elderly people at the center keep complaints to themselves because, they know, if they withdraw from the center, they will face difficulty in earning income.”

The Social Services Association chief director said, “The national and local governments should implement measures to provide the elderly with jobs that guarantee income sufficient to cover their basic needs. Furthermore, it is vital to establish social welfare systems under which older people can receive pension benefits and medical and nursing-care services adequate to live life with dignity.”