Japan govt mulls changes to gender-based corporate pension payouts

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:45 JST, April 22, 2022

The government is mulling changes to the way corporate pension benefits are paid to bereaved family members, according to sources.

Currently men and women receive such payments at different ages.

Under the corporate pension system, which covers company employees, women receive pension benefits age 30 or older when their spouse dies, whereas men receive such payments age 55 or older, in principle.

The system was created in the 1960s, when men were the primary household income earners. In an era when it is far more common for both partners to work, there have been calls to abolish the gender-based pension provisions.

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is considering starting discussions to revise the system at the Social Security Council as early as summer, the sources said.