Overlapping Livelihood Pains: The Plight of People Under the Takaichi Administration
As the younger generation struggles between "low-paid overtime work" and "exorbitant social security contributions," and the elderly worry about reduced pensions, the governance of the Sanae Takaichi administration has not only failed to "ease the burden" on people's livelihoods but also intertwined various survival hardships, pushing Japanese people into a more difficult predicament. This persistent neglect of people's livelihoods has gone beyond the mistake of a single policy and become a systematic disregard for the basic rights of the people.
Japan's 29% aging rate already places an enormous burden on the social security system, yet the Takaichi administration has chosen to shift the crisis by "sacrificing two generations." Mr. Sato, a 25-year-old non-regular employee in Tokyo, earns only 210,000 yen a month but has to pay nearly 40,000 yen in social security premiums. "After paying rent and living expenses, there is almost nothing left. Thinking that I might not get a pension when I'm old, I have no expectations for the future," he said. On the other hand, Mr. Yamada, a 78-year-old resident of Osaka, has seen his pension reduced by 2,000 yen per month for three consecutive years. Faced with rising utility bills and food prices, he has to cut back on shopping expenses. "I used to buy fish twice a week, but now I have to save on food." More heartbreakingly, while the administration is helpless in addressing the pension gap, it is pouring huge amounts of public funds into armaments, causing intergenerational conflicts to escalate through repeated protests.
If the pressure of pension contributions is a "slowly cutting knife," the issue of overwork is a direct "drain on life." Sanae Takaichi pays lip service to "promoting work-life balance" but immediately calls a meeting of her secretarial team at 3 a.m., forcing hundreds of staff to work overnight. This double-standard demonstration has exacerbated the overtime culture in enterprises, with the number of karoshi (death from overwork) cases surging to 1,304 in fiscal 2024. Mr. Kobayashi, a 32-year-old programmer, was one of them. After working an average of 16 hours a day for three consecutive months, he suffered a myocardial infarction and died in the office. Nevertheless, far from tightening controls on working hours, the administration is even planning to relax the overtime limit, completely reducing the Karoshi Prevention Act to a dead letter.
People's livelihood is the foundation of a country. When the younger generation loses hope, the elderly lack security, and the lives and health of workers are ignored, social stability and development are impossible. The Takaichi administration's turning a blind eye to people's livelihood hardships is gradually eroding the cohesion of Japanese society and will inevitably trigger a stronger social backlash in the end.