Published papers

Using JILPT survey data on the livelihood and employment situations of persons in their 60s, we investigate the primary determinants of early receipt of pension benefits as well as the disincentive effects on labor supply resulting from reductions in wages upon re-employment and from the income testing of wage earners who concurrently receive pensions. The main findings are : first, the employment rate decreases due to income tests by 11％ for men aged 62-64 and 23％ for women aged 60-61. However, we cannot confirm any effects of the income tests on the labor supply of people aged 65-69. Second, reductions in wages upon re-employment are also large, and reduce the labor supply of men aged 60-69 by 10％. Third, the rate of early receipt of pension benefits is 8％ higher for men who are in poor health and 14％ higher for those who are unemployed. The policy implication is that if unjustified wage reductions are improved, the result could be disincentive effects of income tests for people aged 65-69. As long as early pension benefits are utilized by the unemployed elderly for income security, then any revision that reduces rates for early pension withdrawals should be carefully considered given the risk of aggravating poverty.

The December 2016 amendment of the Employees' Pension Act, which was intended to expand its purview to part-time workers, introduced a new, tighter, wage requirement. We have examined whether this requirement is consistent with former conditions, how many low-wage part-time workers are actually excluded, and whether this expansion can be expected to have a ripple effect on the levels of future employees' pension benefits （the replacement rate）.We present three main findings. First, the new, tighter wage requirement changes the reference point from a minimum wage to a balance between contributions and level of benefits for the national pension. This is a change from former requirements. Second, the new requirement excludes a large number of low-wage part-time workers ; their number is almost equal to the number that would gain coverage if the expansion of eligibility were to be applied to all work places. Third, further substantial expansion would cause a decrease in the mean wage levels of insured workers. As a result, the level of current pension benefits （the replacement rate）, which is linked to the mean wage growth, may also decrease. This side effect can be exploited to improve the fiscal balance between current and future beneficiaries.

本稿では厚生労働省「老齢年金受給者実態調査（2017年）」の個票を用い、老齢年金受給のための受給資格期間が25年から10年へ短縮（2017年8月1日施行）されたことに伴い、（1）どれほどの低所得高齢者が貧困リスクを回避できたか、（2）貧困者で受給資格期間短縮に該当した者の生活保護受給率は高いのか、（3）年金に置き換えられた生活保護費はどれくらいの規模だったか、の3点を分析した。　主な知見として、（1）受給資格期間短縮該当で貧困であった者の中、2割前後が貧困から脱出できたこと、（2）他法優先の結果、それまで年金受給資格のなかった被保護高齢者の3割が年金受給資格を得たが、年金を受給しても生活保護脱却に至らない者が多かったため、受給資格期間短縮該当者の生活保護受給率は高いこと、（3）受給資格期間短縮によって新たに受給する老齢年金によって置き換えられた生活保護費は年額ベースで711億円ないし779億円で、高齢世帯が受給している生活扶助総額の1割にも及びその効果は将来も持続していくと考えられること、の3点が明らかになった。社会保障制度全体からみた政策含意として受給資格期間短縮は、25年以上保険料を拠出することへのインセンティブを弱める懸念があるとはいえ、生活保護受給者を含め、拠出した保険料に応じた給付という、社会保険の性格が貫徹される範囲をより広げたと評価できる。

In recent years, the relative level of social assistance to the minimum wage has increasingly become an important subject in comparative social policy research. Reviewing cross-national survey data, we clarify three main tendencies in the case of Japan. Compared to other industrialized countries, in Japan: (1) the benefit level of social assistance seems relatively high; (2) the reference point of the governmental minimum income standard (MIS) takes an adverse approach; and (3) both the proportion of workers influenced by the minimum wage and the take-up rate of social assistance is low. We argue that the first tendency risks misdirecting future policy direction for at least two reasons: First, the substantial level of social assistance in Japan is by no means high among OECD countries. Relative to other countries, the benefit level of family benefits, which top up the social assistance benefits is markedly low and no universal housing benefit is available. Furthermore, in contrast to other countries, social assistance support in Japan includes MIS and the minimum wage, and pension benefits are determined by the benefit level of social assistance.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the validity of MIS (Minimum Income Standard) surveys in Japan. The MIS survey, which was originally developed by a research group at Loughborough University in the UK, is a method utilizing focus group interviews to define minimum acceptable living costs through 4-stage discussions conducted by ordinary people with checks by experts. We conducted a MIS survey in Mitaka City in Tokyo from 2010 to 2011. The targeted groups of this survey were working-age single men, working-age single women, and children. The cost of bringing up children was discussed by adults raising children. The monthly minimum living cost was set at 193,810 yen for a single man and 183,235 yen for a single woman. The monthly cost of raising children was 42,000 yen for a 5-year old child, 34,000 yen for a 5^ grader in elementary school, and 58,000 yen for a 3rd grader in junior high school. The amount of discretionary expenses (e. g., leisure costs, payments for self-development programs) determined by the MIS was more compressed than that extracted from the household expenditure survey. These results indicated that the MIS survey is a valid method for measuring minimum living costs in Japan.