The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare published a report on the FY2024 "Survey Project on Aging Society and Others," compiling survey results on social security and labor policies targeting high school students.
This survey was conducted from January 14-31, 2025, to obtain basic materials for compiling the 2025 White Paper on Health, Labour and Welfare. It conducted anonymous questionnaire surveys using web input forms targeting high school students (grades 1-3) nationwide, obtaining 3,000 valid responses. The survey was outsourced to Navit Co., Ltd.
Survey results revealed clear differences in interest levels in social security and labor policies by field. Interest in labor fields was highest at around 80%, followed by medical care and pensions at around 60%, welfare and public health at just under 50%, and nursing care at just over 40%. Meanwhile, understanding levels were around 50-60% across all fields, highlighting a situation where understanding has not kept pace with interest levels.
Regarding educational opportunities, the proportion of those with experience in social security education or labor law education both exceeded 60%. As an important finding, the possibility was suggested that experience in social security education enhances interest and understanding of social security systems, while experience in labor law education improves interest and understanding of labor policies.
These survey results provide empirical evidence that education in social security and labor fields for young people who will lead the next generation is important, showing that enhancing social security education and labor law education in school education may contribute to the sustainability of future social security systems and improvement of working environments. The report is published in PDF format at 2.7MB, containing detailed analysis results and policy recommendations.
The article scientifically supports that promoting understanding of social security and labor fields among younger generations is an important issue for the nation's future, and that efforts to raise awareness through education are effective.