Social welfare benefits hit record Y91.43 trillion

Friday 23rd October, 07:12 AM JST

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10 Comments

GW at 09:52 AM JST - 23rd October

the old folks are going to kill us all!
GW at 10:01 AM JST - 23rd October

slight correction, bankrupt us, then kill us!
Junnama at 10:05 AM JST - 23rd October

The ratio of benefits for kids versus benefits for the elderly speaks volumes about social priorities right now..
hereandthere at 10:08 AM JST - 23rd October

this can't be right....

that's like 700,000yen per person in Japan.... if every person were to receive benefits, which they don't... I know I only contribute to the pension (I will never see any payout) and my medical contributions have exceeded any "benefit" by a a huge amount....

they must include the salary payments of the social security workers in that calculation...

of course I realize I am paying more than that per year in "taxes" to those same social welfare systems.... oh well.
Junnama at 10:14 AM JST - 23rd October

There are huge benefit programs for people over 65 beyond just pension and medical.
kwatt at 10:50 AM JST - 23rd October

Japan has more than total 800 trillion yen debt today. Each person including babies have about 6 million yen debt per person for the future. We all including permanent foreigners might have to pay back to the J government. Why does not Japan become bankrupted by giant debt? Japan is #1 of debt in world.
hanadecaka at 01:14 PM JST - 23rd October

J.government why economic aid giving to India, Pakistan and Philipines.If debt is more.
kp123 at 02:52 PM JST - 23rd October

I feel for the newcomers joining our society as they will eventually pay more into the social security and healthcare fund over their working life than those very benefits they would receive in return. In the U.S. the cut-off or break-even point applies to those born no later than 1943. People born thereafter are burdened with these social costs. Japan will have a problem with their declining and aging population while the U.S. is still a young nation. Median age is 43.5 and 36.6 respectively. Japan needs more babies.
Scrote at 05:39 PM JST - 23rd October

I imagine the government will eventually default on their debts since they make zero attempt to control them. They will probably use the excuse of the next big earthquake to make the default. That'll be your postal savings gone, if you have any.
Alan at 12:12 PM JST - 24th October

Improving healthcare + low retirement age + reduced birthrate = a growing aged population supported by welfare paid for by a shrinking work force. I wonder why no-one in Japan's government foresaw the obvious long-term consequences of their policies back in the 60s and 70s.