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The Japanese government is drafting a proposal for new pension reforms. Under this new proposal, Japanese pensioners will be eligible for benefits under the national basic pension plan if they pay premiums for 10 years or more. Currently, Japanese pensioners are only eligible for national pension benefits after paying premiums for 25 years or more. The proposed shorter period for national pension eligibility will benefit an additional 1 million Japanese workers who have not fulfilled the current 25-year requirement.

The government also plans to modify the pension system for Japanese who continue to work after retirement (working pensioners). Currently, working pensioners who are between 60 and 64 years old are given lower pension payments if their combined monthly wages and pension benefits exceed 280,000 yen (USD $3,442). The government is now proposing to increase the pension payments for these working pensioners if they continue to work past 65 years old.  

However, implementing these new pension reforms will cost the Japanese government an additional 600 billion yen (USD $7.4 billion) by 2015.  The draft proposal is expected to be submitted for further approval by the end of May, 2011. The proposal will be reviewed by the Council for Intensive Discussion on Social Security Reform, which is headed by the Prime Minister.