Social welfare in Japan
Encyclopedia
Social welfare, assistance for the ill or otherwise disabled and for the old, has long been provided in Japan
by both the government and private companies. Beginning in the 1920s, the government enacted a series of welfare programs, based mainly on European models, to provide medical care and financial support. During the postwar period, a comprehensive system of social security was gradually established. Government expenditures for all forms of social welfare increased from 6% of the national income in the early 1970s, to 18% in 1989. The mixture of public and private funding have created complex pension and insurance systems. But a much older tradition calls for support within the family and the local community.
The futures of Japan's health
and welfare systems are being shaped by the rapid aging of the population (see Elderly people in Japan
). Medical insurance, health care
for the elderly, and public health
expenses constituted about 60% of social welfare and social security
costs in 1975, while government pension
s accounted for 20%. By the early 1980s, pensions accounted for nearly 50% of social welfare and social security expenditures because people were living longer after retirement. A fourfold increase in workers' individual contributions was projected by the twenty-first century.
arranged by the government and corporate organizations.
An elementary part:Providing minimal benefits. A basic pension
（premium is fixed amount）
A secondary part:Providing benefits, based on income until retirements. Employees Pension Insurance
、a Mutual Aid
Pension（A premium is a fixed percentage of monthly income）
A third part:Company Pensions（An Employees' Pension Fund, Tax-qualified Pension Plan. A premium depends on organizations）
After becoming an insured person of an employees' pension plan or a mutual-aid pension, a people are also regarded as an insured person of a basic pension automatically.
A major revision in the public pension system in 1986 unified several former plans into the single Employee Pension Insurance Plan. In addition to merging the former plans, the 1986 reform attempted to reduce benefits to hold down increases in worker contribution rates. It also established the right of women who did not work outside the home to pension benefits of their own, not only as a dependent of a worker. Everyone aged between twenty and sixty was a compulsory member of this Employee Pension Insurance Plan.
Despite complaints that these pensions amounted to little more than "spending money," an increasing number of people planning for their retirement counted on them as an important source of income. Benefits increased so that the basic monthly pension was about US$420 in 1987, with future payments adjusted to the consumer price index. Forty percent of elderly households in 1985 depended on various types of annuities and pensions as their only sources of income.
Some people are also eligible for corporate retirement allowance
s. About 90% of firms with thirty or more employees gave retirement allowances in the late 1980s, frequently as lump sum payments but increasingly in the form of annuities.
Social Insurance
Companies in Japan are responsible for enrolling their employees in various social insurance systems, including health insurance
, employee pension, employment insurance, and workers' accident compensation insurance. The employer covers all costs for workers' accident compensation insurance, but payments to the other systems are shared by both employer and employee.
Minimum wage
The Minimum wage law
, introduced in 1947 but not enacted until 1959, was designed to protect low-income workers. Minimum wage levels have been determined, according to both region and industry, by special councils composed of government, labor, and employment representatives.
Welfare
In Japan, the Oita
district ruled on October 18, 2010, that foreigners with permanent residency have no rights to welfare benefits.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
by both the government and private companies. Beginning in the 1920s, the government enacted a series of welfare programs, based mainly on European models, to provide medical care and financial support. During the postwar period, a comprehensive system of social security was gradually established. Government expenditures for all forms of social welfare increased from 6% of the national income in the early 1970s, to 18% in 1989. The mixture of public and private funding have created complex pension and insurance systems. But a much older tradition calls for support within the family and the local community.
The futures of Japan's health
Health
Health is the level of functional or metabolic efficiency of a living being. In humans, it is the general condition of a person's mind, body and spirit, usually meaning to be free from illness, injury or pain...
and welfare systems are being shaped by the rapid aging of the population (see Elderly people in Japan
Elderly people in Japan
This article focuses on the situation of elderly people in Japan and the recent changes in society.Japan's population is aging . During the 1950s, the percentage of the population in the sixty-five-and-over group remained steady at around 5%. Throughout subsequent decades, however, that age group...
). Medical insurance, health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
for the elderly, and public health
Public health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
expenses constituted about 60% of social welfare and social security
Social security
Social security is primarily a social insurance program providing social protection or protection against socially recognized conditions, including poverty, old age, disability, unemployment and others. Social security may refer to:...
costs in 1975, while government pension
Pension
In general, a pension is an arrangement to provide people with an income when they are no longer earning a regular income from employment. Pensions should not be confused with severance pay; the former is paid in regular installments, while the latter is paid in one lump sum.The terms retirement...
s accounted for 20%. By the early 1980s, pensions accounted for nearly 50% of social welfare and social security expenditures because people were living longer after retirement. A fourfold increase in workers' individual contributions was projected by the twenty-first century.
Pension system
In Japan there are three types of Japanese national pensionsNational Pension (Japan)
The Japanese national pension is a pension system that all registered residents of Japan, both Japanese and foreign, are required to enroll in. Since January 1, 2010 it has been managed by the Japan Pension Service.-History:...
arranged by the government and corporate organizations.
An elementary part:Providing minimal benefits. A basic pension
Japan Pension Service
The is an Government organization administered by the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. On January 1, 2010 it replaced the Social Insurance Agency.-Organization:...
（premium is fixed amount）
A secondary part:Providing benefits, based on income until retirements. Employees Pension Insurance
Pension insurance contract
Pension insurance contract is an insurance contract that specifies pension plan contributions to an insurance undertaking in exchange for which the pension plan benefits will be paid when the members reach a specified retirement age or on earlier exit of members from the plan....
、a Mutual Aid
Mutual aid
Mutual aid may refer to:*Mutual aid , a tenet of organization theories.*Mutual aid , an agreement between emergency responders.*Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution, a biology book by anarchist Peter Kropotkin...
Pension（A premium is a fixed percentage of monthly income）
A third part:Company Pensions（An Employees' Pension Fund, Tax-qualified Pension Plan. A premium depends on organizations）
After becoming an insured person of an employees' pension plan or a mutual-aid pension, a people are also regarded as an insured person of a basic pension automatically.
| A secondary part | Employees Pension Insurance | National Public Service Mutual Aid Pension | Local Public Service Mutual Aid Pension | Private School Teachers and Employees Mutual Aid Pension | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| An elementary part | The National Pension Fund National Pension (Japan) The Japanese national pension is a pension system that all registered residents of Japan, both Japanese and foreign, are required to enroll in. Since January 1, 2010 it has been managed by the Japan Pension Service.-History:... （A basic pension） |
|||||
| Insured persons | Employers、unemployed persons and part time & casual workers or equivalents Salaried employees who do not meet necessary conditions for members of an employees' pension plan |
Spouses of categoryⅡinsured persons |
Company employees | Public employees | ||
| CategoryⅠinsured persons | Category Ⅲ insured persons | CategoryⅡinsured persons | ||||
| Individual type | Worker's property accumulation promotion system |
|---|---|
| Personal type Defined Contribution Pension Plan | |
| Corporate type | Defined benefit pension plan Defined benefit pension plan In economics, a defined benefit pension plan is a major type of pension plan in which an employer promises a specified monthly benefit on retirement that is predetermined by a formula based on the employee's earnings history, tenure of service and age, rather than depending on investment returns... |
| Employees' pension fund Pension fund A pension fund is any plan, fund, or scheme which provides retirement income.Pension funds are important shareholders of listed and private companies. They are especially important to the stock market where large institutional investors dominate. The largest 300 pension funds collectively hold... s |
|
| Tax-qualified Pension Plans | |
| Defined Contribution Pension Plans | |
| Retirement mutual aid pensions for small sized businesses | |
| Retirement mutual aid pensions for specific small sized businesses |
A major revision in the public pension system in 1986 unified several former plans into the single Employee Pension Insurance Plan. In addition to merging the former plans, the 1986 reform attempted to reduce benefits to hold down increases in worker contribution rates. It also established the right of women who did not work outside the home to pension benefits of their own, not only as a dependent of a worker. Everyone aged between twenty and sixty was a compulsory member of this Employee Pension Insurance Plan.
Despite complaints that these pensions amounted to little more than "spending money," an increasing number of people planning for their retirement counted on them as an important source of income. Benefits increased so that the basic monthly pension was about US$420 in 1987, with future payments adjusted to the consumer price index. Forty percent of elderly households in 1985 depended on various types of annuities and pensions as their only sources of income.
Some people are also eligible for corporate retirement allowance
Allowance
Allowance may refer to:*Allowance *Allowances in accounting, see Accounts receivable*Personal allowance in the United Kingdom's taxing system* Jobseeker's Allowance, a term for unemployment benefit in the United Kingdom* EU Allowances...
s. About 90% of firms with thirty or more employees gave retirement allowances in the late 1980s, frequently as lump sum payments but increasingly in the form of annuities.
Public assistance
Japan also has public assistance programs benefiting about 1% of the population. About 33% of recipients are elderly people, 45% were households with sick or disabled members, and 14% are fatherless families, and 8% are in other categories. If a household's total income falls below the minimum living expense set by the health and welfare minister, the household is eligible for welfare benefits.Social InsuranceSocial insuranceSocial insurance is any government-sponsored program with the following four characteristics:* the benefits, eligibility requirements and other aspects of the program are defined by statute;...
Companies in Japan are responsible for enrolling their employees in various social insurance systems, including health insuranceNational Health Insurance (Japan)
is one of the two major types of insurance programs available in Japan. The other is. National Health insurance is designed for people who are not eligible to be members of any employment-based health insurance program...
, employee pension, employment insurance, and workers' accident compensation insurance. The employer covers all costs for workers' accident compensation insurance, but payments to the other systems are shared by both employer and employee.
Minimum wageMinimum wageA minimum wage is the lowest hourly, daily or monthly remuneration that employers may legally pay to workers. Equivalently, it is the lowest wage at which workers may sell their labour. Although minimum wage laws are in effect in a great many jurisdictions, there are differences of opinion about...
The Minimum wage lawMinimum wage law
Minimum wage law is the body of law which prohibits employers from hiring employees or workers for less than a given hourly, daily or monthly minimum wage. More than 90% of all countries have some kind of minimum wage legislation....
, introduced in 1947 but not enacted until 1959, was designed to protect low-income workers. Minimum wage levels have been determined, according to both region and industry, by special councils composed of government, labor, and employment representatives.
WelfareWelfareWelfare refers to a broad discourse which may hold certain implications regarding the provision of a minimal level of wellbeing and social support for all citizens without the stigma of charity. This is termed "social solidarity"...
for foreigners
In Japan, the OitaOita
-Companies:*Oita Asahi Broadcasting, a Japanese broadcast network in Oita Prefecture, Japan*Oita Broadcasting System, a television company based in Ōita Prefecture, Japan-Education:*Oita Junior College, a private junior college in Ōita, Ōita Prefecture, Japan...
district ruled on October 18, 2010, that foreigners with permanent residency have no rights to welfare benefits.
See also
- Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan)Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Japan)The ' is a cabinet level ministry of the Japanese government. It is commonly known as Kōrō-shō in Japan. This ministry provides regulations on maximum residue limits for agricultural chemicals in foods, basic food and drug regulations, standards for foods, food additives, etc.It was formed with...
- Health care in JapanHealth care in JapanThe health care system in Japan provides healthcare services, including screening examinations, prenatal care and infectious disease control, with the patient accepting responsibility for 30% of these costs while the government pays the remaining 70%...
- Social education in JapanSocial education in JapanSocial education is the Japanese word for nondegree-oriented education.Modern Japan is unquestionably a society that values education highly . Diverse institutions, such as the miscellaneous schools, provide social education services...
- Elderly people in JapanElderly people in JapanThis article focuses on the situation of elderly people in Japan and the recent changes in society.Japan's population is aging . During the 1950s, the percentage of the population in the sixty-five-and-over group remained steady at around 5%. Throughout subsequent decades, however, that age group...
- Homelessness in JapanHomelessness in JapanIn Japan homelessness increased sharply due to the rise in unemployment in the 1990s.-History:At the beginning of the 1990s, the homeless in Japan were viewed as a nuisance. The government tried to get rid of the street people "because the environment there needed beautification"...