The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare holds its first meeting to review the No. 3 insured system, surveying the situation ahead of the 2030 revision.

On the 4th, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare held the first meeting of an expert committee to review the ``Category 3 insured person system,'' which allows full-time housewives who are dependents of salaried workers to receive a basic pension without paying insurance premiums. We will investigate the actual situation in order to reduce the number of eligible people in response to changes in social conditions, such as the increase in dual-income households. We aim to sort out the issues within this fiscal year and reflect them in the next pension system reform in 2030.

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Category 3 insured persons are the spouses of salaried workers eligible for the Employees' Pension Plan, and must meet certain requirements, such as having an annual income of less than 1.3 million yen. 98% are women, and about half work part-time or other short-time jobs. Due to the increase in the number of dual-income households, the number of people peaked at the end of 1995 and has halved to approximately 6.04 million people by the end of 2025.

In recent years, there have been a number of cases in which part-time housewives and others have adjusted their employment within the scope of support in order to increase their take-home pay, and labor shortages at companies have become a problem. The government has taken measures such as relaxing the requirements for enrolling in the Employees' Pension Plan, but the Type 3 system has been heavily criticized as ``hindering women's career development and creating a wage gap between men and women.''

However, some say that it is harsh to impose insurance premiums on people who are unable to work due to childcare or nursing care, and the government and ruling party plan to keep the Type 3 system in place after narrowing down the number of eligible people. The survey will ask approximately 20,000 people, including those eligible for Category 3, about their income and work styles.