EDITORIAL: Release of data needed for debate on effectiveness of pension system

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and all his ministers attended a June 10 session of the Upper House Audit Committee.

As the ruling coalition has refused to convene a Budget Committee meeting in either house, it marked the first time in two months that Abe responded to questions concerning national policy issues at the Diet.

Opposition questions focused on a recently published controversial Financial Services Agency report that says a typical elderly Japanese couple needs an additional 20 million yen ($184,175) to make ends meet through their post-retirement life.

In the case of a 65-year-old husband and his 60-year-old wife, their combined monthly pension benefits fall short of their monthly expenditures by 55,000 yen, which translates into an income shortfall of 20 million yen over 30 years, according to an estimate in the agency’s report.

Citing this estimate, the report stresses the importance of savings and investments for making one's sunset years more financially secure.

Opposition lawmakers grilled the government over this report, with one asking whether the claim that the public pension system provides financial security for retirees until they reach the age of 100 is a “lie.”

Another asked, “Is this a country where elderly people on a pension cannot keep body and soul together unless they have 20 million yen at retirement?”

Responding to these questions, Abe and Finance Minister Taro Aso only said the report used “an inappropriate expression that has caused misunderstanding and anxiety” among people.

But they falsely cast the issue as a matter of “expression.”

Quite a few elderly Japanese continue working or drawing down their retirement nest eggs because they are unable to get by on their pension benefits alone. The grim reality is that the rapid aging of the population amid low birthrates will require cuts in pension payouts in the coming years.

The challenge facing the nation is how to strike a good balance between two conflicting policy goals--securing the long-term sustainability of the pension system and providing adequate pension benefits to people. The ruling and opposition parties should tackle the challenge through constructive, in-depth debate.

Kohei Otsuka, an Upper House lawmaker of the Democratic Party for the People, criticized the government by saying it is only talking about securing the maintenance of the pension system and not about securing the finances of retired people.

But Abe just maintained that the system is designed to provide financial security for all pensioners.

The government makes periodical reviews of the long-term fiscal prospects for pension benefits. The results of the previous review, conducted five years ago, were announced in early June.

The opposition parties demanded an early publication of the results of the latest review, suspecting that the Abe administration is planning to delay the disclosure until after the summer Upper House election.

Abe, however, refused to say when the data will be published, denying that the administration is scheduling the announcement “politically.” The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is “working hard” on the report, he added.

Anxiety about the future of the pension system is that it will choke growth in consumer spending with possible negative consequences for the nation’s economy as a whole.

The government is responsible for providing accurate information for debate on pension issues, including the results of the review of the finances of the system.

There is a raft of other issues the Diet needs to debate, including the ongoing trade talks with the United States, Japan’s relationship with North Korea and recently disclosed errors in the Defense Ministry’s report on where a U.S.-made Aegis Ashore missile defense system should be deployed.

In the June 10 session of the Upper House Audit Committee, which lasted for less than four hours, however, there was hardly time to discuss these other issues.

The Diet is required to engage in meaningful debate on important policy issues to help voters make their choices at the polls in the summer.

Only a little more than two weeks are left until the end of the current ordinary Diet session.

The ruling coalition should stop avoiding Diet deliberations and start seriously debating key issues with the opposition camp during the rest of the session.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 11