Chikako Usui

The Development of Social Policy for the Elderly in Japan

A rapidly aging society and slowing economy have necessitated changes in Japans social policies for the aged. The confluence of business, the Liberal Democratic Party, and government bureaucracy in shaping social policy is discussed in the context of health and pension reform since the end of World War II. Multiple interests and political and economic realities coalesce in Japans recent move to more community-based care for the elderly.

Japan’s Demographic Changes, Social Implications, and Business Opportunities

The “aging problem” should not be viewed as an economic encumbrance. It is better viewed in the context of the robustness of the economy. Expansion of the carrying capacity of the active labor force as well as active aging among older adults will decrease the burden on society. This chapter draws out social and cultural implications of demographic changes in the context of Japan’s transformation from a Fordist to post-Fordist economy. The distinction shifts attention to the social organization of technology-based service industries. The growing number of older persons and senior households means immense business opportunities for developing new solutions, products, and services. Older adults are potent consumers, willing and economically able to secure independent living and a high quality of life. This chapter discusses a number of emerging silver industries, including housing and real estate, food, pets, robotics, senior care appliances, and the funeral market.

Japan’s Population Aging and Silver Industries

The “aging problem” should not be viewed as an economic encumbrance. It is better viewed in the context of the robustness of the economy. Expansion of the carrying capacity of the active labor force, as well as active aging among older adults, will decrease the burden on society. This chapter draws out social and cultural implications of demographic changes in the context of Japan’s transformation from a Fordist to post-Fordist economy. The distinction shifts attention to the social organization of technology-based service industries. The growing number of older persons and senior households means immense business opportunities for developing new solutions, products, and services. Older adults are potent consumers, willing and economically able to maintain independent living and a high quality of life. This chapter discusses a number of emerging silver industries, including housing and real estate, food, pets, robotics, senior care appliances, and the funeral market.

Child daycare policy in Japan: an examination of the program and its impacts

Recent reforms with regard to Japans child daycare policies have moved in the direction of deregulation, increased privatization and private/public partnerships. These reforms have substantially increased the availability of diversity of child daycare services. However, initiatives creating diversity have introduced issues of lack of equal access to highly desired services as, with privatization, higher quality services may cost more. Also, in municipally-provided care, parents are paying a greater proportion of the cost of childcare. These factors create a situation where poorer parents may not be able to afford the best care. The dominant Liberal Democratic Party has been reluctant to substantially increase national expenditures for child daycare and other supportive family policies. While it has provided initiatives that have eased the predicament of some working women, it has not resolved the cultural issue of utilizing women in a secondary role in employment and emphasizing the mothers responsibility (increasingly a working mother) as a caregiver of young children. As a result, family size remains substantially below the measure of population replacement.