This article examined how initial job status following graduation affects the midlife outcomes and mental health of Japanese workers, using micro data from a nationwide Internet survey of 3,117 men and 2,818 women aged 30-60. The focus was the impact of initial job status on...

All people in Japan are covered by a basic pension. Currently, homemakers (Category 3 subscribers) make no contributions to the basic pension yet always receive full basic pensions. On the other hand, self-employed, non-regular employees, and unemployed people (Category 1) currently make...

There has been a growing concern about “Bad Start, Bad Finish (BS/BF)” issues in European countries for the last decade. Many young persons make a bad start to their working career and remain as atypical workers for long periods, being anticipated to reach retirement age with inadequate...

There arose a serious pension record-keeping problem in Japan from May 2007. Around 50 million pension records of social security were found to be floating, not being integrated to the unified pension numbers. The pending records are due to human errors made by enrollees, their employers and...

In 1988, the total fertility rate (TFR, the number of children per family) of Japan was 1.38, recording a historic low. To date, there is little sign of any stop to this fertility decline. If the low birthrate continues, in a few years the total population of Japan will peak at around 128...