Overview
- Government officials told an expert meeting of the Social Security National Council that below‑average income households with children in Japan bear a higher share of taxes and social insurance than peers in the U.S., U.K., Germany and France.
- The comparison used a model of a 35‑year‑old dual‑earner couple with two children and counted income taxes, the consumption tax and social insurance as a share of household income.
- Officials said they will use the estimate to design a benefit‑attached tax credit that pairs cash payments with tax reductions for people who get little relief from standard credits.
- An interim summary is planned before summer, and participants debated whether to target support by individual or by household and warned that income checks could slow payments, so they urged a simple phased start.
- The analysis pointed to weaker progressivity in social insurance contributions and thinner transfers to low‑income families in Japan as reasons the burden runs higher than in the comparator countries.