Old Age Pensions

I often bring items to talk about to class. For example, I needed my university diploma for a job application, so while I was at it, I brought it to class. Students rarely get a chance to see such ordinary things from another country. They really liked the diploma by the way - Japanese ones tend to be simple and rolled up in a tube, whereas American ones tend to have a "classic" look.

Anyway, today i brought a letter from the social security administration to school. In American, the old age and disability pension system is called Social Security. It was started in the 1930s by president Roosevelt during the Great depression. So it's been around awhile and as anybody who watches American politics knows, it's a BIG DEAL.

At the end of every year I get a 4 page pamphlet from the government, mailed to my home in Japan, that explains where I stand in the system. Everyone gets one, not just expats. My mom, my brother all get one. It says how much you have paid into the system, how much you can expect to get when you retire, how much your spouse or dependents would get if you died, and so on. For a piece of gov't information, it's surprisingly easy to read and informative. And let me just say something one more time: they found me in Japan and send me copies every year. I never told them i was here, and I am admittedly slack at filling out gov't paperwork. (I don't pay US taxes, my salary is below the threshold.)

So I brought it to show students in class. There are some things about it that I know from years of living here that students would find interesting. For example, every American has a Social Security number. We've had them for decades. There is no such system in Japan. This runs counter to most people stereotypes of both cultures (ie. land of the free vs. Japan Inc) but when the Japanese tried to introduce the system just about 3 years ago there was widespread panic, no one could agree on how to do it, it was made optional, some offices used them while others wouldn't, computer systems were never converted and the whole thing was a fiasco. Ask any American, heck even some non Americans what their SSN is and they'll immediately rattle off a 9 digit number as if it was like singing the ABCs.

the students found the paper interesting. Wow, they sent you this document in Japan? Interesting. Social Security number? Interesting. Payments start at age 65? Oh, same as Japan -- interesting.

halfway through the discussion, some students stiffened up as if realizing something shocking: "You have national pension in America?"
"Yeah, of course." I said rattling the document we'd been talking about for 15 minutes.
"Huh? You have old age pensions in America?"
"Yeah" rattle rattle.
"I think there is no pension in America."
"No, we have one. Since the 1930s" Blank stares "Since before the war..." Glimmers of recognition.
"I think America doesn't have such a system"
"No, we do. I've been paying into it since I got my first job when I was still a teenager."
"Hmm, really? I can't believe it. I don't think there is such a system. Really do you have one? Is it ok? I think it doesn't pay any money. I think in America you have to do it yourself. Nobody helps."

and so on. I've had this conversation before and even after talking about it and rattling off the SSN that I have memorized, going into details about how it got started, how it works, how my mom benefits (my dad died) and so on, people still think I'm playing with words somehow, like calling a big pile of trash a "mountain" or saying yeah, my high school had a King, Mr. King the PE teacher, or some trick like that.

So there you go -- the point of this blog is to note Japanese perceptions of themselves and the outside and one of them that comes up is that: America has no welfare system. It's still the wild west.

Another one came up too. My pamphlet showed how much I put in and how much I can expect to get back, based on a lifetime of payments. Different people in the US pay and receive different amounts. In Japan's case, you start paying the day you hit 20 even if you're not working. This means that university students must pay old age pension money, which really means that parents must pay for them. Since I'm living in Japan I haven't been paying into the US system, and were I to retire tomorrow I wouldn't actually get anything. My students insisted that everyone in Japan gets the same money (though my own research seems to indicate otherwise) and they found the American system of different paybacks almost cruel. "Japanese people like fair" they told me, proudly.

Class dismissed, I went to my next lesson. We did the usual introductory chatter, weather, Olympics, valentines day (massacre, no just kidding) then I brought out the letter. Guess what the first thing a student said was... "Uh, I don't think you have an advanced system of old age pension like we do in Japan."

I'm not making any judgment here about which country has a better safety net. Just pointing out a common perception among Japanese (Japanese who, I might add, generally have a university education, often have traveled, and show an interest in foreign countries.)