The ¥1.06 million number disappeared — the eligibility system did not

From October 2026, Japan abolished the monthly wage requirement of ¥88,000 — roughly ¥1.06 million a year — that had been used in social-insurance coverage rules for short-hours workers.

The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare now explains that workers no longer need to manage earnings around that specific threshold.

But other requirements remain, including scheduled weekly hours, employer size, student status and expected duration of employment.

For many workers, 20 scheduled hours a week is now the more direct boundary

As of October 2026, the standard rule covers workers at employers with 51 or more employees who are scheduled for at least 20 hours a week, are not students and are expected to remain employed for more than two months.

The former ¥88,000 monthly wage test used to sit alongside those conditions. That is the element that was removed.

For workers already inside the employer-size scope, the question may shift from 'Will I cross ¥1.06 million?' toward 'Am I scheduled for 20 hours or more a week?'

Nineteen hours and twenty hours can have different insurance consequences even with similar annual income

If the other conditions are the same, a worker contracted for 19 hours a week and one contracted for 20 hours can sit on different sides of the social-insurance eligibility line.

The rule generally refers to scheduled weekly hours set in employment terms or work rules, not a one-off busy week in which actual hours happen to exceed 20.

That makes the employment contract itself more important to check, not just hourly pay and annual earnings.

But 20 hours is not the only remaining condition

Employer size still matters. In general, the 51-employee threshold remains through September 2027.

The official expansion schedule lowers the threshold to 36 employees from October 2027, 21 from October 2029, 11 from October 2032, and removes the company-size requirement in October 2035.

So the income test was removed, but the working-time and company-size boundaries remain.

The ¥1.3 million wall is a different rule and remains relevant

Japan's ¥1.06 million and ¥1.3 million 'walls' are often discussed together, but they are not the same rule.

The October 2026 change removed the wage requirement tied to short-hours workers' own social-insurance coverage. It did not simultaneously abolish the separate ¥1.3 million threshold related to dependent coverage under another person's insurance.

Workers therefore need to check dependent status separately alongside hours, employer size, student status and employment duration.

Joining social insurance can reduce take-home pay now while increasing protection

New health-insurance and employees-pension contributions can reduce immediate take-home pay even when gross pay is unchanged.

The government has introduced support intended to soften the immediate drop for some newly covered workers, with official examples illustrating a temporary reduction in employee contribution burden.

At the same time, workers can gain employees-pension coverage and income-protection benefits such as sickness and maternity allowances where eligibility conditions are met.

The strategy of stopping just below the wall needs to be recalculated

Under the old structure, some workers reduced year-end shifts or cut hours after a pay rise to stay below the income threshold.

For a worker who is already inside the covered employer category and scheduled for 20 hours or more, staying just below ¥1.06 million is no longer the rule that determines whether social insurance applies.

The more useful calculation may now be how many hours to work after enrollment, whether cutting below 20 hours actually makes sense, and how long-term pension coverage changes the trade-off.

BANSEOG VIEW | One number disappeared, not the whole wall system

The ¥1.06 million wage condition disappeared in October 2026, but the boundaries shaping work choices did not disappear with it.

Weekly hours, employer size, social insurance and dependent status now stand out more clearly, while the separate ¥1.3 million threshold remains.

For many part-time workers, the question is no longer only 'How much should I earn?' but also 'How many hours should I work, under what employment conditions?'

BANSEOG VIEW

Banseog View — look beyond the ¥1.06 million number

The October 2026 reform removed the ¥88,000 monthly wage requirement, not the entire eligibility framework.

For some short-hours workers, the 20-hour scheduled-work boundary is now more direct than annual income alone.

Take-home pay, hours, pension and health coverage, dependent status and long-term protection need to be evaluated together.

SOURCES

Primary sources and references

The October 2026 wage-test removal, 20-hour rule, employer-size schedule, student/employment-duration conditions and distinction from the ¥1.3 million dependent threshold come from official Japanese government guidance. The framing that the decision boundary shifts relatively from income toward working time is Banseog analysis; it does not mean hours alone determine eligibility.