No pension for 1.18 million, even payers

An estimated 1.18 million people in Japan will probably be deemed ineligible for public pension benefits, mainly because they failed to pay premiums for the required 25 years, Social Insurance Agency officials said Wednesday.

The figure includes people who will remain ineligible for benefits even if they continue paying premiums into the future. And the premiums already paid by those people will not be returned.

The number of people ineligible for benefits could theoretically jump to a maximum of 1.55 million, if 370,000 people 60 years or older who haven't yet paid for the mandatory 25 years choose not to pay anymore.

If the number of ineligible people continues to rise, it will put more pressure on the central and local government finances because those living on welfare are likely to be included.

In 2004, the agency estimated that about 800,000 people would not be able to get pension benefits, but that wasn't the full picture because those aged 60 to 64 were excluded from the calculation.

People will not be able to receive basic pensions for the elderly if the term they paid premiums or are exempted from paying premiums does not reach 25 years.