Japan Public Pension Benefit Rate Seen Falling to 50 Pct in FY 2057

   Tokyo, July 3 (Jiji Press)--The proportion of public pension benefit payments to disposable income of working generations in Japan is projected to decline to 50.4 pct in fiscal 2057 from 61.2 pct in fiscal 2024, under a scenario assuming the country's economic growth remains at minus 0.1 pct in the medium- to long-term, the welfare ministry said on Wednesday.
   The ministry presented the estimate in a report on fiscal reviews of pension benefit payments, conducted every five years, that was submitted to a subcommittee of the Social Security Council, which advises the welfare minister.
   The fiscal 2057 figure is above the legally required level of 50 pct. But the benefit payment rate could fall further, as the ministry's calculations are based on the assumptions that the economy will maintain a certain level of growth and that the population will stay around the same.
   The estimated decline in the pension benefit rate is because payments growth is curbed under the so-called macroeconomic slide mechanism to secure financial resources of benefit payments for future generations. The ministry will consider measures to mitigate the risk of poverty among the elderly, including expanding the eligibility of people who can join the "kosei nenkin" pension system for corporate workers.
   The ministry's calculations are based on the premise that the country's fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman gives birth to in her lifetime, will stand at 1.36 in 2070. They are also based on the assumption that the country will continue to post over 160,000 in net inflow of foreign nationals a year until 2040.

(2024/07/03-15:05)

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