With a general election around the corner, major political parties in Japan are playing up pension reform as a top campaign promise. That is only to be expected as the average age of the Japanese population rises at an accelerated pace. The question is what should and can be done to build a sustainable pension system.
Voters' chief concern, of course, is how costs (premiums) and benefits (pensions) will change. But the answers from the parties are mostly vague. Absent essential specifics, such as how to cover fund shortages, current proposals will only increase popular doubt and anxiety. The parties should present more detailed plans and conduct in-depth debates.
It is a sign of changing times, though, that the nation's political parties are giving top priority to an overhaul of the pension system in the runup to the Nov. 9 election. In previous election campaigns, pension issues stirred little controversy because, with the pension system in better shape, all of the political parties merely called for more benefits.