Political parties are bracing for a new round of joint parliamentary panel talks on social security reform. The biggest issue is how to integrate disparate and unequal parts of the public pension system. Prospects for final agreement look uncertain at best, given the wide differences that exist between and among the ruling and opposition parties. To produce results, they need to tackle practical issues first, rather than stick to hard and fast principles.
Efforts toward pension reform are already taking concrete shape. Effective Friday, when the new fiscal year started, the premium on national pensions was increased by 280 yen to 13,580 yen a month on the basis of the reforms agreed upon in 2004. Premiums paid by corporate employees, civil servants and private school teachers have already been raised.
If the 2004 reforms proceed according to plan, premiums will gradually keep rising until 2017, while benefit levels will be adjusted according to changes in the work force, average life expectancy, wages and prices. That appears to be the easy part compared with what yet needs to be addressed: securing pension revenues and removing systemic inequalities.