Japan’s “employment ice age generation,” now in their 40s to 50s, faces an increasing risk of being in poverty when they are older even if they fully receive basic pension benefits.
Due to low wages they tend to earn during their working years and protracted pension adjustments reflecting the country’s demographic changes, many in the generation may end up relying on welfare benefits. Experts call for shoring up pension benefit levels and providing housing support for the generation.
The ice age generation refers to about 17 million people who entered the job market from around 1993 to 2004, when it was difficult to find jobs after Japan’s asset bubble collapsed in the early 1990s, kicking off long-term stagnation.
