Why Not Change the Working Style of Men in Japan?

In 1988, the total fertility rate (TFR, the number of children per family) of Japan was 1.38, recording a historic low. To date, there is little sign of any stop to this fertility decline. If the low birthrate continues, in a few years the total population of Japan will peak at around 128 million, and from then on, Japan will become a society of declining population. In a hundred years, the population of Japan will likely be cut down to half the current population. One out of three persons will be over 65 years old. The number of young people will dramatically lessen, and the majority of laborers will be middle-aged or higher. These are the prospects of Japan in the 21st century.

On Fifty Million Floating Pension Records in Japan

There arose a serious pension record-keeping problem in Japan from May 2007. Around 50 million pension records of social security were found to be floating, not being integrated to the unified pension numbers. The pending records are due to human errors made by enrollees, their employers and agencies. There has been no integrated collection of taxes and social security contributions in Japan, and additionally no monitoring organizations have been effectively implemented in pension administration. The general public was under the illusion that government officials were able to do and did everything correctly without committing any errors. However, human errors are inevitable anywhere. Regular and prompt examinations over possible errors are required for proper record-keeping of pensions. Upon any no-match identified, an interactive notification and confirmation with correction should follow in due course. The trustworthy government with its competent and neat implementation is, thus, the basis for any pension system.