As Japanese society ages and the government cuts social welfare spending, older women are bracing for the impact.
"The only people who can enjoy living until 100 are those who have enough money and family," said Setsuko Betsui, a 78-year-old woman living in Saitama, who gets by on ¥120,000 ($1,077) a month in benefits. "I'd rather die in two years."
Burdened by a public debt that amounts to 236 percent of gross domestic product, the government is trimming spending on its ever-expanding elderly population. The Finance Ministry is lobbying to push the age when pension benefits start to 68, up from 65. Until 2000, the age was 60. Elderly care and medical care contributions already have been cut.