The Employees' Pension System Starting in October

Today, there will be a revision to the employee pension system starting in October.
Oh, it has nothing to do with me, so it's okay? No, no, no, this has to do with a great many things.

Part-time employees working for companies with more than 500 employees were obliged to join the Employees' Pension Plan.
From October, the application will be extended to companies with business offices of more than 100 employees.

As a result, those who have been working part-time can join the employee pension plan and company health insurance, but full-time housewives will see a decrease in their take-home pay.

Then, more specifically, the conditions for what kind of part-timers are applicable are as follows.

(1) Working 20 hours or more per week
(2)Monthly wage of 88,000 yen or more (annual income of approximately 1,060,000 yen or more)
(3)The period of work is expected to be at least one year (students are not applicable)

In Japan, if the husband works and earns enough money, he is entitled to a dependent's exemption as long as the amount does not exceed 1,030,000 yen on a part-time basis.

So, are you wondering how much of a burden it would be to actually join an employee pension plan?

For example, a housewife with a monthly income of 88,000 yen would have to pay an additional 12,500 yen per month for both employee pension and health insurance.
*Pretty expensive, right?

But it is not all bad; there is also the benefit of an increase in future pension benefits.
In the long run, it certainly looks like a very beneficial revision.

However, the impact on the economy is tremendous.

The data is a bit old, but about 30% of the respondents are in the part-time segment.

There are many businesses in the world that offer low-priced services that can be provided by part-time workers (food and beverage is a good example).

From the company's point of view, the increase in costs means an increase in the price of services and products, which means higher prices.

Yeah, yeah, that's a good thing! If you are thinking, "What's so good about this?", in Japan, the salary level has been as follows for the past 30 years.