Japan Social Insurance Rates 2026: What Changed

Last updated: 19 October 2026 · Kyokai Kenpo, the Japan Pension Service and the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare · rates for fiscal 2026 (April 2026 to March 2027)

Up to four premiums come out of a salary in Japan, and for fiscal 2026 three of them changed. Health insurance went down in most prefectures, long-term care insurance for people aged 40 to 64 went up, and employment insurance went down; employees’ pension stayed where it was. On top of that a new child-care support levy (子ども・子育て支援金) is now added to health insurance. Put together, they take slightly more than before: ¥105 a month more on ¥300,000 in Tokyo. To see your own deductions, use the take-home calculator.

These are the rates of Kyokai Kenpo (協会けんぽ), the health insurance most employees of smaller companies are in. A company with its own health insurance society (健康保険組合) sets its own health insurance and care rates. The child-care support levy is the same 0.23% for all employee health insurance, societies included, though a society can share it differently between employer and employee. Your payslip or the society’s notice is the authority.

The rates for fiscal 2026

The first four are charged on your standard monthly remuneration (標準報酬月額), a grade set from your pay, and split half and half with your employer. Employment insurance is charged on each month’s actual pay, and the figure in the table is the part you pay.

Health insurance: lower in 40 of 47 prefectures

Kyokai Kenpo sets a rate for each prefecture every year, starting from the premium for March. For fiscal 2026 it went down in 40 prefectures and stayed the same in the other 7; none went up. The rates run from 9.21% in Niigata, down from 9.55%, to 10.55% in Saga, down from 10.78%, and Tokyo’s fell from 9.91% to 9.85%. The rate is the one for the prefecture your workplace is in, not where you live.

The law lets an employer deduct the previous month’s premium from each salary, and most do, so the March premium came out of April’s pay: that is the payslip where the new rate first showed.

The child-care support levy

From the April 2026 premium, a child-care support levy (子ども・子育て支援金) of 0.23% is added to the health insurance rate. It is the same in every prefecture in Kyokai Kenpo, split half and half like the rest, and charged on bonuses as well as salary. It is collected as part of the health insurance premium, so everybody insured pays it, with or without children; a payslip may show it inside the health insurance figure or on a line of its own. With the usual one-month delay, it first came out of May’s pay.

Long-term care insurance and pension

If you are 40 to 64, long-term care insurance (介護保険) is added to health insurance: 1.62% from the March 2026 premium, up from 1.59%, the same in every prefecture. The guide to the drop at 40 explains when it starts and stops. Employees’ pension has been 18.3% since September 2017 and did not move.

Employment insurance: a little lower

Employment insurance (雇用保険) is charged on each payment of salary rather than on a grade. For April 2026 to March 2027 you pay 0.5% of it, down from 0.55%; in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, sake brewing and construction it is 0.6%, down from 0.65%. Your employer pays a larger share on top.

What it does to take-home

Put together, the cuts do not quite cover the new levy. These are the monthly social insurance premiums in Tokyo under each year’s rates — health insurance with the levy, care insurance from 40, pension and employment insurance:

A month’s income tax comes down by a few yen in return, because premiums are taken off your pay before tax is worked out. The take-home calculator uses the fiscal 2026 rates for every prefecture.

Questions people ask

Why did my deductions go up in May 2026?

Mostly because of the child-care support levy. It is charged from the April 2026 premium, and most employers deduct each month's premium from the following month's pay, so it first showed in May. The health insurance rate had gone down a month earlier, but in all but seven prefectures by less than the levy adds.

Do I pay the child-care support levy if I have no children?

Yes. It is part of the health insurance premium, so everybody insured as an employee pays it, with or without children.

When do the rates change next?

Kyokai Kenpo's health insurance and care rates change with the premium for March 2027. Employment insurance and the child-care support levy are set for each fiscal year, so the next ones apply from April 2027.

Sources

• Kyokai Kenpo — 令和8年度の協会けんぽの保険料率は3月分（4月納付分）から改定されます (every prefecture’s rate for fiscal 2025 and fiscal 2026, from the March premium; the levy of 0.23% from the April premium; care insurance 1.62%). Japanese, opened 19 October 2026.
• Kyokai Kenpo — 令和7年度の協会けんぽの保険料率 (care insurance 1.59% for fiscal 2025). Japanese, opened 19 October 2026.
• Health Insurance Act (健康保険法) — e-Gov: 第156条 (the premium is the health insurance rate plus the levy rate, on the standard monthly remuneration and on bonuses, with care insurance added from 40 to 64) and 第167条 (the previous month’s premium is deducted from the pay). Opened 19 October 2026.
• Japan Pension Service — 厚生年金保険料額表 (18.3%, half each, fixed since September 2017). Japanese.
• Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare — 雇用保険料率について (fiscal 2026: the employee pays 5/1,000, 6/1,000 in agriculture, sake brewing and construction; fiscal 2025: 5.5/1,000 and 6.5/1,000). Japanese, opened 19 October 2026.
• Children and Families Agency — 子ども・子育て支援金制度について (the fiscal 2026 levy of 0.23% for employee health insurance, health insurance societies included). Japanese, opened 19 October 2026.