This is a translation of the Japanese original. The Japanese version is authoritative; figures follow Japanese tax law.
Under the pension reform act enacted in June 2025, the Survivors' Employees' Pension changes substantially under a review scheduled to take effect in April 2028. The point most widely reported is that the benefit for a spouse with no children will end after five years as a rule, but looking only at that gives a distorted picture. Over those five years the amount rises to about 1.3 times the current level thanks to a fixed-term benefit supplement, husbands, who were excluded entirely below age 55, become eligible, and the income test of less than 8.5 million yen a year is abolished. Nor does the scope widen all at once: for women it starts with those "under 40" in fiscal 2028 and is raised in stages over 20 years. Here is who loses, who gains and who is unaffected, set out from the Japan Pension Service's current rules and Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) materials.
The short answer: the only people affected are those who lose a spouse on or after April 2028, have no children and are under 60
| Your situation | Treatment from April 2028 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| You already receive the Survivors' Employees' Pension | Current benefit terms are kept (still open-ended) | No change |
| You lose a spouse at age 60 or over | Open-ended benefit, as now | No change |
| You are raising a child up to the end of the fiscal year in which they turn 18 | Unchanged while you are raising the child. Once the child is grown, a five-year fixed-term benefit (with the supplement) plus the continued benefit | Same while raising a child |
| Wife with no children, under 60 (from those under 40 when the reform starts) | A five-year fixed-term benefit as a rule. The amount is about 1.3 times. Continued up to 65 where extra consideration is needed | Those who stop after five years lose out / the amount over the five years rises |
| Husband with no children, under 60 | Newly covered by the five-year fixed-term benefit (nothing at all at present if under 55) | Gain |
| Spouse with an income of 8.5 million yen a year or more | The income test is abolished, so the fixed-term benefit is payable | Gain |
Sources: MHLW, "On public information concerning the Pension Reform Act" (21st Pension Public Relations Study Group, 30 July 2025)[MHLW]; Social Security Council Pension Subcommittee, "Review of the survivors' pension system (2)" (10 December 2024)[MHLW]
The key point is that a Survivors' Employees' Pension for which the entitlement arose before the reform takes effect (1 April 2028) stays under the current system. Nobody already receiving it will be cut off after five years.
In legal terms the wording is "scheduled to take effect in April 2028". The scale is worth noting too. On the MHLW's estimate, those newly brought into the five-year fixed-term benefit immediately after it takes effect are about 250 women a year (those with no child up to the end of the school year in which they turn 18 and under 40 as at the end of fiscal 2028; women in their twenties are already on a five-year benefit) and about 16,000 men a year (those with no such child and under 60). By headcount, this reform brings more people in than it shortens benefits for[MHLW].
The current system: a wife aged 30 or over receives it for life, a husband under 55 receives nothing
Today the Survivors' Employees' Pension is three quarters of the deceased person's Old-Age Employees' Pension (the earnings-related portion). Where the death meets one of the short-term conditions, such as death while still employed, a contribution period shorter than 300 months is treated as 300 months; under the long-term condition the actual period is used[Japan Pension Service]. Who receives it, and for how long, differs clearly by sex.
| Spouse with no children (current rules) | Wife | Husband |
|---|---|---|
| Bereaved before age 30 | Five-year fixed-term benefit | No benefit (under 55) |
| Bereaved at 30 or over but under 55 | Open-ended benefit (for life) | |
| Bereaved at 55 or over | Open-ended benefit | Open-ended benefit from age 60 |
| Supplement for ages 40 to under 65 | Middle-aged widow's supplement, 635,500 yen a year (fiscal 2026) | None |
| Income test | The recipient's income in the previous year must be under 8.5 million yen, or their taxable income under 6,555,000 yen | |
It was built in an era of full-time homemakers, on the assumption that "a wife will find it hard to return to work". Now that dual-income households are the norm, the argument that it is unfair for a husband to receive nothing despite paying the same contributions led to this review.
The basics: who receives a survivors' pension, and how much (fiscal 2026)
Before the reform, here is the whole picture of today's survivors' pensions. They come in two tiers. The first tier is the Survivors' Basic Pension, which only households with children can receive. The second tier is the Survivors' Employees' Pension, added on top when the person who died was an employee or a public servant. Every figure below is the fiscal 2026 amount (payable from April 2026). The basic pension was raised by 1.9% from the previous year, and the earnings-related portion of the employees' pension by 2.0%[Japan Pension Service].
Survivors' Basic Pension: 847,300 yen a year plus a supplement per child
Only a spouse with children and the children themselves can receive it, and only if they were dependent on the person who died. A "child" here means a child up to 31 March of the school year in which they turn 18, or a child under 20 with a disability of grade 1 or 2 under the disability pension. A spouse with no children receives no Survivors' Basic Pension.
| Category | Annual amount in fiscal 2026 |
|---|---|
| Spouse with children (born on or after 2 April 1956) | 847,300 yen plus the supplement per child |
| Spouse with children (born on or before 1 April 1956) | 844,900 yen plus the supplement per child |
| Supplement for the first and second child | 243,800 yen each |
| Supplement for the third child onwards | 81,300 yen each |
A household of a wife and two children under 18 receives 847,300 yen plus 243,800 yen times two, or 1,334,900 yen a year. Where the spouse has already died and only the children receive it, 847,300 yen plus the supplements from the second child onwards is divided by the number of children[Japan Pension Service].
What "dependent on the deceased" means - the 8.5 million yen applies to the recipient's income
The "under 8.5 million yen a year" that appears in every explanation of survivors' pensions is a test on the income of the person who receives it, not of the person who died. Two things are required: (1) sharing a livelihood with the person who died (living apart still counts if, for example, money was being sent or the survivor was a dependant for health insurance purposes); and (2) income of under 8.5 million yen in the previous year, or taxable income of under 6,555,000 yen[Japan Pension Service]. Either of the two income measures is enough, so someone with income above 8.5 million yen still qualifies if their taxable income is under 6,555,000 yen.
Survivors' Employees' Pension: three quarters of the earnings-related portion, paid to the highest-ranking survivor
One of the following four conditions must be met. Conditions 1 to 3 are called the short-term conditions and condition 4 the long-term condition.
- Death while insured under Employees' Pension Insurance.
- Death within five years of the first medical consultation for an illness or injury whose first consultation fell within a period of Employees' Pension coverage.
- Death of a person receiving a Disability Employees' (Mutual Aid) Pension of grade 1 or 2.
- Death of a person who had satisfied the qualifying period for the Old-Age Employees' Pension.
The amount is three quarters of the earnings-related portion of the deceased person's Old-Age Employees' Pension. The point people miss is how far the "deemed 300 months" rule reaches. A contribution period shorter than 300 months (25 years) is treated as 300 months only under the short-term conditions (1 to 3 above). Under the long-term condition (4) the actual period is used[Japan Pension Service]. Someone who dies young while still employed has the figure lifted to 300 months; someone who dies after leaving work does not.
Only the highest-ranking survivor receives it.
| Rank | Survivor | Conditions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spouse with children | No age condition |
| 2 | Child | Up to the end of the school year in which they turn 18, or under 20 with a disability of grade 1 or 2. Not paid while a wife with children, or a husband with children aged 55 or over, is receiving it |
| 3 | Spouse with no children | A wife under 30 receives it for five years only. A husband qualifies only at 55 or over, and payment starts at 60 |
| 4 | Parents | Only at 55 or over, and payment starts at 60 |
| 5 | Grandchild | Same age conditions as a child |
| 6 | Grandparents | Only at 55 or over, and payment starts at 60 |
Source: Japan Pension Service, "Survivors' Employees' Pension (conditions, eligible survivors, amount)"[Japan Pension Service]. A husband with no children can receive it between 55 and 60 only where he also qualifies for the Survivors' Basic Pension.
Wives have a supplement. The middle-aged widow's supplement adds 635,500 yen a year from age 40 until 65. Two groups qualify: (1) a wife who was aged 40 or over but under 65 when her husband died and has no child sharing her livelihood; and (2) a wife with children who had been receiving both the Survivors' Employees' Pension and the Survivors' Basic Pension and loses the Basic Pension because, for instance, her child has reached the end of the school year in which they turned 18. Under the long-term condition - the death of a husband who was already entitled to, or had satisfied the qualifying period for, the Old-Age Employees' Pension - it applies only if his Employees' Pension coverage was 20 years or more[Japan Pension Service].
What happens at 65 when it overlaps with your own Old-Age Employees' Pension
Where someone aged 65 or over is entitled to both, their own Old-Age Employees' Pension is paid in full and the Survivors' Employees' Pension is suspended by an equivalent amount. The survivors' amount itself is also set at the higher of two figures: (1) three quarters of the deceased person's earnings-related portion; or (2) half of the deceased person's earnings-related portion plus half of the survivor's own Old-Age Employees' (Mutual Aid) Pension. The more employees' pension you have built up yourself, the smaller the survivors' pension actually paid into your account[Japan Pension Service].
Only for self-employed households: the Widow's Pension and the Lump-sum Death Benefit
Where the person who died was a Category 1 insured person under the National Pension (self-employed, freelance and so on), two benefits catch households that receive no Survivors' Basic Pension.
| Item | Widow's Pension | Lump-sum Death Benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Who receives it | A wife who had been married continuously for 10 years or more and was dependent on her husband at the time of death | One survivor who shared a livelihood with the deceased (spouse, child, parents, grandchild, grandparents, siblings, in that order) |
| Condition on the deceased | Contribution-paid and exempted periods as a Category 1 insured person of 10 years or more | Contribution months as a Category 1 insured person of 36 or more |
| Amount | Three quarters of the Old-Age Basic Pension calculated from the husband's Category 1 periods alone | 120,000 to 320,000 yen depending on the number of contribution months (plus 8,500 yen where additional contributions were paid for 36 months or more) |
| Period of payment | From the wife's 60th birthday until she turns 65 | A single lump sum |
| Not paid where | The husband had ever received the Old-Age Basic Pension or the Disability Basic Pension, or the wife is receiving an early Old-Age Basic Pension | The survivor can receive the Survivors' Basic Pension |
| Time limit | - | Two years from the day after death |
Where both apply, you choose one or the other[Japan Pension Service][Japan Pension Service].
The trap between April 2026 and March 2028: if a parent takes the Lump-sum Death Benefit, the child's Survivors' Basic Pension stops
Under today's rules, a child receives no Survivors' Basic Pension while a father or mother sharing their livelihood is alive. Under the 2025 reform, from 1 April 2028 a child will be able to receive the Survivors' Basic Pension even where a father or mother sharing their livelihood is present. The Japan Pension Service adds a warning, however: where a father or mother receives a Lump-sum Death Benefit to which entitlement arose between 1 April 2026 and 31 March 2028, the Survivors' Basic Pension of a child sharing their livelihood remains suspended[Japan Pension Service]. That is the period we are in now. Taking a lump sum of 120,000 to 320,000 yen can stop a child's Survivors' Basic Pension that would otherwise have started in April 2028. The claim window for the lump sum runs for two years, so check which is better with a pension office before rushing to claim.
After the reform: four changes that have to be read as a set
- A five-year fixed-term benefit as a rule (same for men and women). A spouse under 60 with no children receives the benefit for five years from the bereavement. For women, however, it starts with those "under 40" when the reform takes effect, and the age covered is raised over 20 years to under 60. For men, those under 60 are covered from April 2028.
- A fixed-term benefit supplement raises the amount. For the five years, a supplement is added to the current Survivors' Employees' Pension, bringing it to about 1.3 times the current level on the MHLW's explanation. The aim is to give more support during the period of rebuilding a life while working.
- Death splitting raises the pension in old age. The Employees' Pension contribution record built up during the marriage is split and added to the surviving spouse's own Old-Age Employees' Pension. It works like the pension split on divorce, and it raises your own pension from age 65.
- The income test is abolished. The current condition of "under 8.5 million yen a year" disappears, and the fixed-term benefit is payable regardless of income.
On top of that, a continued benefit is paid beyond the fifth year to "people who need extra consideration". It is judged on income circumstances and the state of any disability, and it lasts up to age 65. Even someone with no children is not cut off where there are reasons why five years is not enough to become self-supporting.
For women it is phased in "over 20 years" - a guide to whether your age is covered
The MHLW explains that it will be "implemented for men from April 2028, and for women in stages over 20 years from April 2028"[MHLW]. Since the age of a wife covered by the fixed-term benefit is raised from "under 40" at the start to "under 60" over 20 years, the guide is that it rises by one year each year.
| Fiscal year of the bereavement | Wives (no children) on the fixed-term benefit | Wives (no children) still open-ended |
|---|---|---|
| Up to fiscal 2027 (before the reform) | Under 30 (current rules, no supplement) | 30 and over |
| Fiscal 2028 | Under 40 | 40 and over |
| Fiscal 2033 | Under 45 (guide) | 45 and over |
| Fiscal 2038 | Under 50 (guide) | 50 and over |
| Fiscal 2043 | Under 55 (guide) | 55 and over |
| Fiscal 2048 onwards | Under 60 (fully phased in, same as men) | 60 and over |
The MHLW materials state explicitly that "women who are 40 or over in fiscal 2028" see no change from the present position. In other words, a woman born on or before 1 April 1988 keeps the open-ended benefit whenever she loses her spouse. Conversely, for a woman born on or after 2 April 1988 it depends on when the bereavement happens. Because the exact cut-off for each fiscal year will be fixed by the implementing ordinance, treat the intermediate years in the table above as a guide.
How much it changes: where the husband's earnings-related portion is 1 million yen a year
If the earnings-related portion of the deceased husband's Old-Age Employees' Pension is 1 million yen a year (the level for an average company employee with 40 years of contributions), the Survivors' Employees' Pension is three quarters of that, or 750,000 yen a year. Take a wife of 35 with no children as an example.
Now (open-ended)
Ages 35 to 40: 750,000 yen a year x 5 years = 3.75 million yen
Ages 40 to 65: (750,000 yen + middle-aged widow's supplement of 635,000 yen) x 25 years = about 34.62 million yen
Total up to age 65: about 38.4 million yen (from 65 only the difference against her own Old-Age Employees' Pension)
After the reform (fixed-term, no continued benefit)
Ages 35 to 40: 750,000 yen a year x about 1.3 x 5 years = about 4.87 million yen
Ages 40 to 65: nothing (a continued benefit for those who need extra consideration)
From 65: her own Old-Age Employees' Pension rises through death splitting (part of the husband's record during the marriage is split)
On the numbers alone this is a sharp reduction for a young wife with no children who is able to work. The intent of the system is that you "rebuild your life in five years and build up your own Employees' Pension", and the amount over the five fixed-term years does indeed rise. But a household that kept its life insurance thin on the assumption of an open-ended benefit is working from a changed premise. Where both spouses were born on or after 2 April 1988 and there are no children, or the children have left home, this is a reason to review how much life insurance you need.
Husbands, by contrast, gain. At present a husband under 55 receives not a yen when his wife dies, whereas after the reform he receives about 4.87 million yen over five years on the same facts. The gap is largest in households where the wife is the employee and the husband is self-employed or has a low income.
The conditions for the "continued benefit" that does not stop at five years, and the fate of the middle-aged widow's supplement
The continued benefit keeps payments going beyond the fifth year "where extra consideration is needed because of income or the state of a disability", up to age 65 at the longest[MHLW]. The MHLW has also published a guide to the income levels. For a single person, earnings of up to about 100,000 yen a month (1.22 million yen a year) mean the continued benefit is paid in full. As income rises the pension is adjusted so that income and pension together increase gradually, and above roughly 200,000 to 300,000 yen a month payment stops altogether (the exact point depends on the size of the pension). The 1.22 million yen figure becomes 1.32 million yen (estimated) when measured against local tax income reflecting the fiscal 2025 tax reform, and around 2.04 million yen a year where a wife whose husband has died qualifies as a "widow" for local tax purposes[MHLW]. For how people receiving a disability pension are treated, see also disability pensions and tax.
For the middle-aged widow's supplement (635,500 yen a year for wives aged 40 to 65), the Pension Subcommittee materials point towards "reducing the amount in stages each fiscal year after the reform takes effect, and abolishing it in the end". The supplement amount at the time you start receiving it does not change until your benefit ends, so nobody already receiving it will see a cut. It is being replaced by the fixed-term benefit supplement.
Households with children: from April 2028 more children can receive the Survivors' Basic Pension
Where there is a child up to the end of the fiscal year in which they turn 18, the Survivors' Employees' Pension while you are raising that child is unchanged, and the five-year term only starts once the child is grown. The review of the Survivors' Basic Pension also takes effect in April 2028, and children who could not receive it because a parent remarried, because a parent's income was 8.5 million yen or more, or because they were taken in by a divorced former spouse, will be able to receive the Survivors' Basic Pension[MHLW]. The supplement for children in the Survivors' Basic Pension is also raised: the MHLW explains that it moves from about 235,000 yen a year to 280,000 yen[MHLW]. For households with children, this part becomes more generous rather than less.
What you can do now
- Check both spouses' pension records. The Survivors' Employees' Pension is set by the deceased person's earnings-related portion. Three quarters of the Employees' Pension part of the "pension amount based on your contributions to date" on the annual pension statement is the guide to what a spouse would receive.
- Rebuild your life insurance death cover around "five years". If your childless household will be on the fixed-term benefit, decide whether to fill the thinner public cover from year six onwards with private insurance, or to build up your own Employees' Pension by both working.
- Check your own pension from 65. At 65 your own Old-Age Employees' Pension takes priority and the Survivors' Employees' Pension is only the difference. Plan it together with how deferral works and pensions while you are working.
- The paperwork right after a spouse dies is unchanged. The pension claim at the pension office, unpaid pension, the burial allowance (health insurance) and the inheritance tax return (not needed within the basic deduction) all work as before.
Summary
- For those who lose a spouse on or after April 2028 and have no children and are under 60, the survivor's employees' pension will, in principle, become a fixed five-year benefit.
- Those already receiving the benefit, and those who lose a spouse at age 60 or over, continue to receive it indefinitely as before.
- The pension amount over the five years is about 1.3 times the current level. Husbands under 55 can now newly receive it as well, and the requirement of annual income under 8.5 million yen has been abolished.
- For women, the change phases in gradually over 20 years starting with those "under 40" in FY2028. Those born on or before April 1, 1988 remain on indefinite benefits.
- People requiring special consideration can receive continued benefits up to age 65 at the longest. Childless households should use this as a cue to review their life insurance coverage needs.
Related articles
Popular articles
Reference links (sources)
This article is based on the materials below. The detail of the income test for the continued benefit and the exact age cut-offs for each fiscal year will be set by ordinance in the run-up to implementation, and we will update this once they are fixed.
Note: this article is general information. The example figures are estimates and vary with contribution records and age. For an individual decision, check with a pension office.