Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on the 6th that the government is considering a wider pool of recipients for a new income-linked benefit than the ¥3.5 million reference ceiling it has floated, telling the lower house Financial Affairs Committee it is "thinking somewhat more broadly."
"We are considering at least the equivalent of 30% of employed workers or more," Takaichi said, answering a question from Komeito lower house member Mitsunari Okamoto.
The program, called the employment burden reduction support payment, targets low- and middle-income earners and scales the amount paid according to annual income. The government has not released specific payment amounts or the income thresholds that would qualify.
Its reference figure assumes about 30% of employed workers would receive the benefit, as under comparable programs overseas. That would cover roughly 20 million people earning between ¥1 million and ¥3.5 million a year. Opposition parties have called for eligibility to be extended further.
Raising the ceiling pulls more of the middle class into a program designed as targeted aid, and each step up the income scale adds recipients the government has not costed publicly.