Premiums and wages at heart of social security debate ahead of Upper House vote
The pledges come as premiums have been rising because of an aging population and higher prices. Since benefits and burdens come as a set, it is essential for the parties to identify a concrete path to realize the reform.
Social security benefits swelled from ¥78.4 trillion in fiscal 2000 to ¥137.8 trillion in fiscal 2022, while social security premiums grew from ¥26.7 trillion to ¥40.7 trillion, according to the welfare ministry's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.
For this reason, the government aims to increase social security burdens on certain people, but such reform faces strong opposition. For example, the government had to freeze a plan to raise out-of-pocket payments for high-cost medical care due to a backlash from opposition parties and patient groups.
Campaign pledges by Nippon Ishin no Kai put priority on reducing social security burdens on households.
The opposition party promised to raise net income by ¥60,000 per person per year by reducing the country's medical expenses by ¥4 trillion annually. The reduction can be achieved including by cutting the number of excess hospital beds by around 110,000, Nippon Ishin said.
The Democratic Party for the People, another opposition party, calls for raising out-of-pocket medical expenses for people who are 75 or older from the current 10%, in principle, to 20% to reduce the premiums for the working generation.
The main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan seeks to set an upper limit on the total amount of out-of-pocket expenses for medical, nursing care and welfare services in accordance with the user's income.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party pledged to raise the official prices of medical and nursing care services to raise the wages of workers in the sectors. Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, called for raising the wages of nursing care and welfare workers to the average of all industries, at ¥386,000 per month.
The proposal by the ruling coalition to raise the official prices of medical and other social security services would lead to an increase in premiums and tax burdens. Opposition parties' pledges to reduce premiums are also challenging in terms of how to secure financial resources.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who leads the LDP, said the government will consider establishing a suprapartisan panel on social security reform, stressing the need to discuss the issue without prioritizing the interests of parties.
Through such discussion, both ruling and opposition parties need to foster a common understanding that social security reform requires painful measures, experts said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Japan Times
an hour ago
- Japan Times
Isolated and fearing a ban, Germany's far-right tones down the rhetoric
Last weekend, Germany's far-right lawmakers vowed to dress smartly, minimize parliamentary cat-calling, and signed up to a short manifesto notably omitting a call for repatriation of some immigrants that helped fuel their February election success. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) is trying a tactical pivot away from the mix of attention-grabbing shock policies and provocative rowdiness that helped it become the second-largest parliamentary party, in a bid to go more mainstream and translate popularity into power, political commentators and a party insider said. Being the largest opposition party has conferred privileges like being able to respond first to the government in parliament, but in Germany power comes from being in coalitions, and every other party rules out governing with the AfD. Other parties have also prevented it from taking key positions on parliamentary committees as calls grow across the political spectrum for a ban on the AfD on account of its extremism. So far, conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz has opposed such a ban, which must be requested by either house of parliament or the government, and then examined by the Constitutional Court. The court has only banned a party twice in 1952 and 1956. A senior party official who declined to be named said the new rules were all about "professionalizing" the party — although some, especially founding figures in the party's eastern heartlands who are not members of the national parliament, oppose changing a successful formula. At stake is the 2029 election, which the party, four points behind Merz's conservatives in some polls, could have a credible shot of winning. In the weeks following February's election where it won 20.8% of the vote, it briefly surged to first place. An AfD campaign flyer with a mock deportation plane ticket calling for "illegal immigrants" to leave Germany for "safe countries of origin." | REUTERS The AfD leadership hopes to follow hard-right parties like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy into the political mainstream, from where they could reshape the politics of Germany and Europe. Far-right essayist Goetz Kubitschek, a mentor and close ally to Bjoern Hoecke, leader of the party's most radical wing from the eastern state of Thuringia, said on his podcast: "I don't understand why a party polling at 20% should change its agenda." The manifesto or position paper agreed to by all 152 legislators omitted the word "remigration" — used heavily by leader Alice Weidel in the election campaign and widely understood as a call for unassimilated non-ethnic-German citizens and migrants to leave the country. The word was cited as evidence by a court that recently upheld a security service assessment that the AfD might be an extremist and therefore an unconstitutional party. To be banned in Germany, a political party must not only be deemed to take a position that undermines the functioning of Germany's democratic order, it must also be acting on it with a chance of success. The remigration phrase had become "toxic," said one legislator present at the weekend gathering, who did not want to be named, adding that averting a ban was another goal. An official spokesperson for the AfD did not immediately respond to a request for comment on any connections between the policy document and a desire to professionalize or head off a ban. "The word remigration has been found to be unconstitutional and has no future," wrote AfD legislator Maximilian Krah, once considered one of the party's most radical figures. "Case closed. The court has spoken." AfD party co-leaders Tino Chrupalla and Alice Weidel and regional AfD leader Bjoern Hoecke react after first exit polls in the German general elections in Berlin in February. | Pool / via reuters Nevertheless, Weidel still lashed out at Germany's migration policies in parliament this week. Many commentators are skeptical that the shift is any more than cosmetic. "This ongoing discourse about a possible ban is getting under their skin," said political scientist Oliver Lembcke, adding: "They are trying to be more palatable to other parties: it's about getting a share of the power and seeking not to be marginalized." The AfD reorganized its youth organization last year when its campaigns were criticized for being racist. The regional politician Matthias Helferich, who was shown in leaked emails to have used language associated with the Nazis, was expelled from the party this week. He said he was a victim of a "show trial" by the party tribunal that expelled him. He denied being an extremist. Merz's conservatives remain committed to a policy of never governing with the AfD, but conservative parliamentary leader Jens Spahn suggested it was time to treat the AfD as an "ordinary" opposition party, which could see it get more access to non-partisan steering committees. Merz, having concluded that former Chancellor Angela Merkel's strategy of ignoring them was a failure, has started attacking Weidel in parliament directly, on Tuesday accusing her of trying to spread "bitterness" and "despair." It is unclear if all members will follow the party through its pivot. Hoecke pointedly posted an essay on remigration the day after the new strategy document was floated. "The AfD has given up the fight against population replacement," wrote Paul Brandenburg, a prominent activist, on Telegram. "This is causing uproar among sympathizers."
Japan Times
5 hours ago
- Japan Times
More than 120 countries and regions to attend Hiroshima peace ceremony
A total of 124 countries and regions, as well as the European Union, are currently scheduled to attend the Aug. 6 peace memorial ceremony in Hiroshima this year, the city has said. The number of attending countries and regions is set to surpass the record high set in 2023 of 111, the city said Friday. The annual ceremony marks the anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945. Among the nuclear powers, Britain, France, India and Israel will send representatives, while the United States is making arrangements. China, Russia, Pakistan and North Korea have not responded. The Palestinian Authority, Taiwan and two others will attend for the first time. Hiroshima had been sending out invitations for the ceremony until last year, but this year, the city sent notices to a total of 196 countries and regions, including Russia and Belarus. It did not send invitations to either country over the past three years due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Yomiuri Shimbun
5 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
China Strikes Friendly Pose Ahead of Upper House Poll,But Provocative Actions at Sea Undermine Message
As Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling Liberal Democratic Party is reported to be in a difficult situation heading into the House of Councillors election on July 20, moves to support the Ishiba administration are noticeable from the administration of Chinese President Xi Jinping. On June 29, just before the July 3 announcement of the upper house election, the Chinese government announced that it would resume imports of Japanese seafood products to China. Seafood products from 10 prefectures, including Fukushima, will remain subject to the embargo, but seafood products from the other 37 prefectures will now be able to be imported. Imports are expected to resume around August or sooner. The Japanese and Chinese governments agreed on procedures for resuming imports in late May, and this can be said to be the result of smooth progress in their talks, but the timing of the announcement just before the election also reveals China's political intentions. A source familiar with the inner workings of the Chinese government said, 'This is indirect support for the Ishiba administration.' China sent Vice Premier He Lifeng, a close aide to Xi, to China's National Day at the Osaka Kansai Expo on July 11. He discussed the progress of Japan-China cooperation with LDP Secretary General Hiroshi Moriyama and other Japanese officials. China has viewed the Ishiba administration, which was inaugurated in October last year, as a very easy partner to work with. Sanae Takaichi, the former minister for economic security who competed with Ishiba for the post of LDP president last year, has a strong conservative tone, visiting Yasukuni Shrine every year, and China judged that there would be no room for progress in Japan-China relations if Takaichi were to lead a new administration. In particular, China was impressed with Ishiba's views on history, such as his intention to review the Pacific War in light of the upcoming 80th anniversary of the end of the war. According to a Japanese government official, the Chinese side had repeatedly urged the Japanese side at the ambassadorial level to 'issue a statement on the 80th anniversary of the end of the war.' There may have been some expectation that the 80th anniversary statement would be more palatable for China than the 70th anniversary statement issued by the conservative administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The Chinese side has not been consistently impressed with the Ishiba administration. When Ishiba visited the United States in February this year and met with President Donald Trump shortly after he took office, Ishiba warned China in a bolder manner than usual, joining Trump in saying that he was 'opposed to any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion' regarding the situation in Taiwan. China strongly opposed Japan's decision to draft a joint statement by the Japanese and U.S. leaders in a way that was unfavorable to China on the Taiwan issue, the topic on which China is the most sensitive. Another Japanese government official said at the time, 'Japan-China relations suddenly cooled, perhaps because China was displeased by the idea that Japan could cause unpredictable Trump to do something unexpected on the Taiwan issue.' However, when the Trump administration imposed radical tariff measures in April, Japan-China relations changed again. China was confronted with heavy trade pressure from the United States again, and in a situation where its domestic economy could be seriously affected, China decided that it was important to draw Japan closer. The aforementioned Japanese government official explained: 'Japan-China relations made a V-shaped recovery all at once. China has been cozying up to Japan more than it ever has in the last 10 years.' In May, the United States and China agreed to significantly reduce mutual additional tariffs for 90 days, and in June they agreed to establish a 'framework' to implement the May agreement. It can be said that China has achieved a certain degree of detente with the United States (at least regarding tariff measures), but it is unlikely that the Trump administration will change its confrontational stance toward China in the future, and China will likely continue to seek better relations with Japan. As the tariff negotiations between Japan and the United States are proving difficult and there is a rift in Japan-U.S. relations, China may be considering approaching Japan to weaken the Japan-U.S. alliance. In this context, there is no doubt that China believes that the Ishiba administration is convenient for drawing Japan closer. In March, Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Japan and held the first Japan-China high-level economic dialogue in six years, promising to promote discussions to resume imports of Japanese seafood products. In May, an agreement was reached on procedures for resuming exports. The issue of the restrictions on seafood imports was originally caused by China's one-sided criticism of the release of treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant without any scientific evidence, which resulted in China being isolated in the international community and dealing a blow to its own seafood industry. It was the Chinese side that wanted to bring the issue to a close as soon as possible. Since March, China has been indicating a path to gradually resolve this issue, aiming to make it appear as if the issues between Japan and China are making steady progress with the Ishiba administration, which is struggling to run the government as a minority ruling coalition. However, no matter how many 'diplomatic achievements' they produce, it will be difficult to translate them into votes in the House of Councillors election. Japan's biggest diplomatic challenge at the moment is the U.S. tariff measures, which both the ruling and opposition parties consider a 'national crisis,' and relations with China have already been buried as an election issue. A slight improvement in relations with China alone will not improve the domestic evaluation of the Ishiba administration. Unless there is a breakthrough such as a visit by Xi to Japan and major progress on issues between Japan and China, such as the issue of Japanese nationals being detained, the effect will be minimal. Meanwhile, the Chinese military has intensified its activities near Japan and Taiwan, and there is no sign of it easing up on its security threats. In June, a fighter jet from a Chinese aircraft carrier operating in the Pacific Ocean made an abnormal and dangerous approach to a Maritime Self-Defense Force patrol plane, and in May, a helicopter from the China Coast Guard (a paramilitary organization) violated Japanese territorial airspace around the Senkaku Islands. Behind the facade of its smiling diplomacy, China is steadily making attempts to change the status quo. Does China not realize that many Japanese people have seen through China's true nature? Political Pulse appears every Saturday. Seima Oki Seima Oki is a deputy editor in the Political News Department of The Yomiuri Shimbun.
