近年来日本社会保障制度改革述评

A Review of Japan’s Social Security System Reform in Recent Years

2010年以来,日本人口减少、少子化、超老龄化趋势进一步加剧,医疗及护理需求攀升,社会保障支付与个人负担失衡,老年人和年轻人的代际矛盾显现。日本政府推行社会保障与税收一体化改革、社会保障与工作方式改革、“全世代型社会保障”制度改革,主要采取全年龄、全领域改革,即对年金制度、工作方式、医疗制度、预防及护理、少子化问题、贫富差距进行改革。改革的实施在一定程度上稳定了社会保障资金来源,有利于促进老年人及女性的劳动参与以及缓解代际矛盾。全面深入分析日本三项社会保障制度改革,对我国应对人口老龄化挑战、完善社会保障制度有借鉴意义。

Since 2010,Japan’s population has been decreasing,and the trend of fewer children and aging has further intensified.This has led to the problems of 2025 and 2040 in Japan,resulting in a series of problems such as a sharp increase in the elderly popu⁃lation,labor shortage,and a sharp increase in demand for medical and nursing care.These issues has also led to an increase in social security expenditures,an imbalance between social security payments and burdens,and intergenerational conflicts be⁃tween the elderly and young.In order to address the aforementioned issues,the Japa⁃nese government has implemented three social security system reforms since 2010,namely social security and the integration of taxation,the reform of social security and labor methods,and the reform of“the entire generation social security”system.From the above three reform paths,it can be seen that the main approach is to adopt reforms across all ages and sectors,which includes reforming the pension system,em⁃ployment methods,medical system,prevention and care,child reduction measures,and eliminating poverty and wealth inequality.To some extent,the implementation of these three reforms has ensured a stable source of social security funds,gained social consensus on future investment(reducing birth rates),promoted labor participation among the eldly and women,and alleviated intergenerational conflicts.A comprehen⁃sive and in-depth analysis of Japan’s three social security system reforms has refer⁃ence significance for China to address the challenges of aging population and im⁃prove its social security system.