Introduction

Social Security in Japan 09.24.2015

Course Outline

• This course is designed for the foreign students to understand the social security system in Japan, especially the history of social security, the nature of social insurance and the trend of reform of the social security.

• Emphasis is placed on major fields of social security service such as pension scheme, health care system and services for the elderly.

Evaluation

• Only Examination. The Day is 01/28/2016.

• If you are absent from the Examination Day, please go to faculty office and ask some instructions.

Quiz

When does a person first associate with a social security system in Japan?

The answer is “Before Birth!”.

Before Birth

• Public Health– Checkups– Maternal and Child Health Handbook

Boshi-Kenkotecho (Maternal and Child Health Handbook,母子健康手帳 )

• A notebook handed out by local public organizations, called Maternal and Child Health Handbook.

• In historic view, the basis Law of Maternal and Child Health Law issued in 1937 and first notebook of infants physical strength, notebook of expectant delivered in 1942.

Quiz

• Why the first Maternal and Child Health Handbook issued in the wartime?

• Under the slogan ”Rich country, Strong army”. It was the government's goals for Japan from the Meiji era to the end of WWII.

Maternal and Child Health Handbook

• If you become pregnant and inform your municipal office of your pregnancy, you will receive a "Maternal and Child Health Handbook".

• Some municipal offices have this translated into other languages, such as Chinese, English, Korean and Spanish.

• Use the handbook to keep a record of your child's health from pregnancy, of the birth, and your child's development and progress through to kindergarten.

The record of vaccination

• a smallpox 　天然痘• a Japanese encephalitis　日本脳炎• a polio　　　　　　　　　　　小児麻痺• a rubella　　　　　　　　　　風疹• a measles　　　　　　　　　はしか• a tuberculosis　　　　　　　結核

Japanese Social Security

• Public Pension• Health Insurance• Long-Term Care Insurance

• Public Assistance• Social Welfare(Aged, Children, Dispabled Persons)

• Workmen’s Accident Compensation Insurance• Unemployment Insurance

• Public Health

Quiz

• When you are injured or sick, where do you want to go?

• Perhaps, you can go to hospital or clinic with your health insurance card(National Health Insurance Card).

– Universal Coverage and Free Access

Quiz

• When your father or mother have a stroke and are paralyzed on his or her side of the body, what you should do first?

• In Japan, you should go to municipality office where your parents live and take a application on the qualification test of long-term care insurance.

Japanese Social Security

• When you are injured in the working time, Workmen’s Accident Compensation Insurance is available.

• When you lose the job, unemployment

Insurance is avilable ( half year unemployment benefit, and training for seeking the job etc).

Japanese Social Security

• Japanese Social Security finely and delicately supports the risk of life.

What's the extent of the spending for social security in Japan?

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The trends in Social Security Cost

　 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2015(budget)

GDP① 38.6 246.5 449.4 509.9 482.4500.7(IMF, April,

2015)

Total Expenditure ② 3.5(100.0)

24.8(100.0%)

47.2(100.0%)

78.1(100.0%)104.7(100.0%

)116.8(100.0%)

Pension 0.9( 24.3)10.5( 42.2%

)24.0( 50.9%) 41.2( 52.7%) 53.0( 52.7%) 56.2( 48.6%)

Health insurance 2.1( 58.9)10.7( 43.3%

)18.4( 38.9%) 26.0( 33.3%) 32.9( 33.3%) 37.5( 32.1%)

Welfare, etc. 0.6( 16.8) 3.6( 14.5%) 4.8( 10.2%) 10.9( 14.0%) 18.8( 14.0%) 23.1( 19.3%)

②÷① 9.1% 10.1% 10.5% 15.3% 21.7% 23.3%

Per Capita Social Security

Cost （ right scale ）

Pension

Health

CareWelfare,

etc.

World trends

Social Expenditure To GDP by Total

Source) OECD “Social Expenditure 2011”

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Other social policy areas HousingUnemployment Active labour market programmesFamily HealthIncapacity related SurvivorsOld age

%

Social Expenditure To GDP by Family

Source) OECD “Social Expenditure 2011”

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Other social policy areas HousingUnemployment Active labour market programmesFamily HealthIncapacity related SurvivorsOld age

%

Why Japanese Gov. pays for the much costs of elderly and pays less of young?

Timing and Vote

• In historic view, the veteran and old is important for the politics. In contrast, the Gov. drives a kind of self-help policy for the young. Surely, voting power is important too.

• Often said, ”Once a system is instituted, the revamping is extremely difficult politically, whether it is a social security system or a tax system.”

Why Social Security is so popular in the advanced countries?

The reasons differ from country to country.

England, Elizabeth I, 1601 Poor Lawrounding up vagrants and drunks and other undesirables to the work house and took them o do regardless of their opinions

Old Germany(Prussia), Otto von Bismarck(the Iron Chancellor),the end of 19C.Social Insurance System

Introducing Health Insurance in 1883, workmen's compensation insurance in 1884 and old age and disabled pension in 1888.

USA, New Deal Policy The Great Depression of the 1930s Work Projects Administration, introducing a public enterprise, a public work, TVA etc.

UK, Beveridge Report

1942, proposal of NHS and Flat-Late Pension system

http://www.ssa.gov/history/index.html,

Do you know the backgrounds?

The backgrounds– Poor Law in 1601 The great navigation times The Reformation

– Social Insurance System Crackdowns on communism and socialism Carrot and stick policy

– New Deal Policy The Great Depression of the 1930s The US Supreme Court said ,“To push the public works by the federal government is unconstitutional! The unemployment, the bankrupt etc. are events especially as relative to an individual.” Self-help, Voluntary Efforts

– Beveridge Report In order to lift the spirit for the war, showing the great view of the after war society was necessary.

Making the Capitalism -> enclosure -> mass vagrantsThe east India Co.

This logic could survive until U.S.S.R.Broken.

Japan has own reason to develop social security

Japan, "Fukoku Kyohei", Before WWII Gov. Introducing the health insurance system in 1938 "Fukoku Kyohei" (enriching the country,

strengthening the military) and "Shokusan Kogyo" (encouragement of new industry) were often used as specific slogans in order to break away from the fetters of powerful Western countries.

Sum up Introduction

• Japanese Social Security System is fairly good, but very expensive.

• The politics is always necessary to develop the Social Security.