Progress and Prospect of Social Security in Japan

Abstract

Social security system in Japan was formulated after the Second world war, in almost the same way as in European countries, though a little later. The Social Security Council which was organized in 1949 by the instruction of GHQ, proposed the Recommendation on Social Security System in 1950. Its fundamental ideas were based on“Social Insurance and Allied Services”(1942) by Lord Beveridge, and it functioned as the basic criterion for the development of social security in Japan . In those days Japan was under social chaos and poverty, but the Council advocated“it would be absolutely necessary to make start the social security and if neglecting to enforce it to some extent, the government could not fulfill her responsibility for urgent social unrest.”The ground for this advocate was the new Japanese Constitution which was enacted after the Second World War. The Constitution prescribes as follows:“Every nation has right to live the lowest level of healthy and cultural life”and“the state should make efforts to promote social welfare, social security and public health in every living field.”Nevertheless, social security system had not developed up to the middle of 1950s because of economic difficulties. It began to progress after the curtain on a scene of economic development was raised. In 1961, the systems of insurance and pension coverage for whole population were implemented.However, those systems were congeries of conventional health insurance and pension systems and had not been unificated, so that it was necessary to adjust differences of various systems. But the problems have been unsolved up to the present, though revised to some extent.Later on, pension system sliding up according to the rise of wages and salary level was adjusted under rapid economic growth and inflation; and the contents of social security have been made better by and by.Then, new serious problem emerged since the middle of 70s. The rapid population aging has been developing and it began to exert vital influence upon social security system. To cope with such problem, the basic pension system common to whole nation was inaugurated in 1985; and as for the health insurance for the aged the Health and Medical Service Law for the Elderly was implemented in 1983.Such countermeasures, on the other hand, increased the financial burden, and the future of social security involves inevitably very serious social and economic problems. But we must keep in mind the stability of nation's life sustained by the development of social security system has been the essential background of economic growth without serious social confusion.