Welfare Ministry Releases Pension Calculator System to Private Sector

The Yomiuri Shimbun

20:00 JST, July 21, 2023

The government offers its pension calculator system free of charge to app firms and other companies developing asset management tools such as household bookkeeping apps, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced Friday.

The ministry launched a pension calculator in April 2022. People can access the service by scanning the QR code on annual Japan Pension Service notices or via a website.

An estimate of the amount of pension benefits a person will receive can be calculated by entering information such as date of birth, annual income and occupation. The system can also reflect in estimates changes in employment or marital status, among other things.

As of June 1, the system had been accessed more than 3 million times.

In fiscal 2022, the ministry conducted a trial with companies to incorporate the technology into other services. Four of the 11 companies that participated in the trial positively appraised the system.

The ministry has decided to release the system to companies in the private sector to boost user numbers.

“Once people become aware of the amount of benefits they will receive in the future, they can realize the advantage of enrolling in pension programs,” a ministry official said.

Many part-timers curb their working hours because once their income reaches a certain level they are required to pay taxes and social insurance premiums — which include premiums for the public pension program — reducing their take-home pay as a result. However, the amount of pension benefits they would stand to receive in the future would increase under employee pension programs.

“The ministry is also considering measures to tackle [this] issue,” the ministry official said. “We hope that such efforts will help eliminate the reluctance [of some part-timers] to work longer hours.”