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Julian Ryall

The Japanese government is pushing ahead with changes to employment laws that will encourage people to work until they are 70.
While some older workers have welcomed the move because they will be able to continue earning for longer, others say they have worked and paid enough in taxes.
Younger workers, meanwhile, are seeing the stretch of years ahead of them extend even further.
The cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved the details of the bill on Tuesday and it is likely to be approved during the present session of the Diet. If all goes smoothly, the revisions will come into effect in April 2021.
From dementia to jobs, does Japan’s hold the secret to growing old gracefully?
Under the new laws, companies will be encouraged to abolish the mandatory retirement age they have for staff or push it back to 70 years old. They will also be asked to support employees who want to start their own business or work on a freelance basis, while supporting others who are assigned to a company’s philanthropic endeavours.
At present, Japanese companies must allow workers to retain their positions until 65, but the nation is facing interconnected issues that threaten its social and economic well-being.
A falling birth rate means that there are far fewer young people coming into the workforce to sustain industry and pay taxes. At the same time, older generations of Japanese are living longer than ever before, thanks to advances in medicine, meaning that they require more pension payments and health care provisions.

Efforts to encourage more people to have children have not had the impact the government had hoped, so the government is looking at other countries’ experiences.
Many developed economies – including Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – have abolished the mandatory retirement age, while the US Age Discrimination in Employment Act makes discrimination in hiring based on a person’s age illegal.
According to a study by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, only 2.5 per cent of companies have scrapped their mandatory retirement age, with slightly more than 53 per cent operating systems that permit retired workers to stay on at a company past the retirement age, but almost always on lower wages and with fewer benefits.
Masaharau Hamada is 59 years old and says he is “delighted” at the new flexibility the changes will bring.
“I don’t want to retire because I think I still have a lot to offer, so this will give me and people like me flexibility,” said Hamada, who works for Olympus Corp. but is planning to leave the company in November to set up a consultancy business.
“This is a big change for Japan and I think it is good that we are becoming like other countries in this area,” he said. “Workers with all this experience can share that knowledge with younger employees, but also there is no obligation to stay in a company. So if you want to retire, you can. But the important thing is that you don’t have to.”
Fertility secrets of Okinawa give birth to hope in sexless, ageing Japan
As a 20-year-old university student, Issei Izawa is about to start job-hunting and is less sure of the changes.
“Perhaps it is because I am young, but adding another five years to my working life sounds like a lot to me,” he said. “I think that people of my generation are more concerned about work-life balance and being happy in their personal lives, as opposed to my parents’ or grandparents’ generations.
“I don’t want to have to work that hard or that long and a lot of my friends feel just the same,” he added.
Shino Naito, a senior researcher for the Japan Institute for Labour Policy, believes the legislative changes are “a step in the right direction” but that more should – and could – be done.
“This will go some way to solving the nation’s labour shortage problem, but the legislation does not address the issue of ensuring equal pay and equal rights for these older workers,” she said. “In the same way as women can be paid less for the same work as men, companies will be able to employ older workers on a contract basis instead of as full-time employees.
“As well as less pay, they will have fewer employee rights and benefits,” she said. “There is more that should be fixed.”


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Japan

Work till you’re 70: Japan presses ahead with new employment law

National flags in the Sugamo shopping district of Tokyo celebrate Respect for the Aged Day. Photo: Getty Images

KYOTO, JAPAN - 2013/09/22: Two old women walk in a traditional alley. The number of people aged 65 or older in Japan will top a record 32.9 million, accounting for an all-time high of 25.9 percent of the nations total population, estimated by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in the Mid Sept, 2014. Japan needs new solutions to solve the problem of graying population. (Photo by Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images)

From dementia to jobs, does Japan’s ageing society hold the secret to growing old gracefully?

Japan has the world’s oldest population. Pictured: Japanese ‘girl band’ KBG84. Photo: AFP

Eiichi Okubo (R), 71, pushes his wife Yumiko, 68, who has been suffering from dementia, in a wheel-chair at her care house in Tokyo, Japan, October 29, 2018. Picture taken October 29, 2018. REUTERS/Toru Hanai

Takako Ganaha, 63. Photo: Jeremy Teo

A baby cries as an amateur sumo wrestler tries to scare it during a baby crying contest at Sensoji temple in Tokyo, Japan, April 28, 2018. In the contest two wrestlers each hold a baby while a referee makes faces and loud noises to make them cry. The baby who cries the loudest wins. The ritual is believed to aid the healthy growth of the children and ward off evil spirits. 160 children took part in the event in this year, the organiser said. REUTERS/Issei Kato

Emiko Kinjo, 70. Photo: Benedict Kee

Nurse Sari Nose, 28, from the Omoromachi Medical Centre visits seniors at the Hiyamikachi home to make sure they are well. Photo: Jeremy Teo

Seiko Uechi, 83, is one of nine residents at the Hiyamikachi dementia group home. Photo: Jeremy Teo

Caregiver Aimi Kochi, 29, chats with Hiyamikachi’s youngest resident Sugako Arakawa, 69, who moved into the home three years ago. Photo: Jeremy Teo

Eishin Takayasu, 78. Photo: Jeremy Teo

Centenarian Tsuru Yogi, 107, is helped as she mixes the batter for pancakes at the Churatoku facility. Photo: Jeremy Teo

Masaki Uchima, 66. Photo: Jeremy Teo

Noriyasu Sato, 72, works at a waste management plant in Okinawa. Photo: Jeremey Teo

Fertility secrets of Okinawa give birth to hope in sexless, ageing Japan

Okinawa is the only Japanese prefecture where births outnumber deaths.

Brith rates in Japan. Graphic: Go-Far programme

This image shows Clara, posing with the band, in a restaurant in Naha, Okinawa, Japan on May 31, 2016. 31MAY16 [ONLINE] SCMP / ANDREW RAIN

Mrs Erena Nishishiraho and her five daughters, aged one to 15. Photo: Elizabeth Lee

For Mrs Itsuki Shimoji, 35, and her three-year-old daughter Yuzuki, “every day is a lot of fun”. If she could, she would have nine kids, so she can form a baseball team, she said. But because of her age, she will settle for three. Photo: Elizabeth Lee

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An ageing, shrinking workforce has prompted the move
But legislation stops short of ensuring equal pay and rights for older workers



Japan’s move has been prompted by its ageing, shrinking workforce. But the legislation stops short of ensuring equal pay and rights for older workers.


Shinzo Abe

Ageing society

Jobs

Work till you’re 70: Japan presses ahead with new employment law

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} An ageing, shrinking workforce has prompted the move But legislation stops short of ensuring equal pay and rights for older workers

An ageing, shrinking workforce has prompted the move

But legislation stops short of ensuring equal pay and rights for older workers