Three in Four Japanese Youths Doubt Sustainability of Public Pension System: The Nippon Foundation Poll

To look into how Japanese youths see their personal finances after retirement in the context of the public pension system, The Nippon Foundation conducted a survey from October 13 to 15, covering 1,000 Japanese aged between 17 and 19 across the country. 

The online poll found that more than 60% (63.4%) of the respondents were concerned about their personal finances after reaching the age of 65, while only 10.4% said they were not. One fourth (26.2%) said they didn’t know or had not thought about it.

Asked what source of funds they want to rely on most upon reaching 65, topping the list was personal savings (34.2%), followed by public pensions (28.5%), corporate or private pensions (7.9%), income earned from work (6.4%) and welfare (5.7%). 

However, three in four (74.5%) replied either that the current public pension system would become difficult to maintain (43.8%) or would go bankrupt (30.7%), reflecting the serious concerns young people have about the country’s public pension system against the backdrop of an aging population and declining birthrate. A mere 8.6% said the system would be maintained without problems, with 16.8% replying they didn’t know.

When asked to what extent they thought they could live on a pension in the future after reaching 65, three in five (60.6%) predicted that the public pension benefits would not cover even half of their daily living expenses. A scant 3.8% said they could live mainly on just a pension.

Asked how the premiums they pay into the system would compare with the amount of pension benefits they would eventually receive, two thirds (67.3%) believed their pension benefits would be less than what they paid in.

Such concerns led three in five (60.5%) to say the current public pension system should be overhauled.

However, when asked whether their views were reflected in government and Diet (Parliament) deliberations on the pension system, two thirds (66.6%) replied in the negative and only 8.4% in the affirmative, with 25.0% saying they did not know. By gender, more females (71.0%) replied “no” than males (62.4%).

The findings of the survey clearly indicate that policymakers, politicians and other stakeholders should listen to the views of young people on the public pension system and encourage younger generations to vote and participate in a public debate on the issue.

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This is my last blog for 2023.

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