Instead, some of the Fund's revenue was used to finance e.g. housing allowances. In terms of communication, it was an impossible task to balance overall economic interests when designing a supplementary pension against senior citizens' expectations of disbursements from the Fund. After some years it was decided to discontinue payments into the Fund. And then there was the balance of payments.
In addition, firms' stance is likely to gradually shift toward raising prices. With hourly scheduled cash earnings of part-time employees remaining on an uptrend, the upward pressure of the rise in firms' costs on prices has been increasing, supported also by a rise in input prices due to the past depreciation of the yen.