September 28, 2015
Japan racking its brain on how to overcome fast aging of society
The third Monday of September is a national holiday in Japan. The Respect for the Aged Day fell amid a long string of holidays this year, and many buoyant children were seen on television getting reunited with their grandfathers and grandmothers at airports, railway stations and elsewhere. The life expectancy of Japanese men and women is getting longer and longer, but the situation is rather ominous.
According to a government report, the number of people aged 65 or over came to 33.8 million as of September 15, accounting for 26.7 percent of the total population. Both figures were the highest ever. The percentage of those 80 or older increased to 7.9 percent. Every one of 10 women was 80 or older. A different report showed the number of centenarians in Japan has surpassed 60,000.
According to an estimate by the National Institute of Population and Security Research, elderly people will account for 36.1 percent of the total population in the year of 2040, when “second baby-boomers” born in the early 1970s will be 65 or older.
The unabated fast aging of society pushes up the government’s social security expenses, particularly medical care spending for the elderly. This represents a threat not just for the country but also for elderly people themselves, as the government has come to reduce the social security budget, rather than beefing up the social security system.
Japan’s universal health insurance system, established in 1961, made medical service widely available to people of all walks of life, contributing to extending the life expectancy of Japanese people. But Japan’s population started decreasing around 2008, because of a declining birthrate. The situation surrounding elderly people is becoming complex following changes in Japan’s social structure, notably a trend toward the nuclear family. Pension income and support by the younger generation are less dependable than ever for elderly people. About one of five elderly persons in Japan is said to be living below the poverty line.
Japan is becoming a difficult country for elderly people to live in, critics say. The one can easily find newspaper articles about cases in which elderly people fell victims to clever money transfer frauds across the country. The damage involved is estimated at tens of billions of yen a year. Traffic accidents linked to erroneous or inappropriate driving by old persons are often reported. Many old people tend to feel small in the situation.
Community-sponsored meetings to show respect to the aged take place in various regions on the national holiday. A 91-year-old woman was fatally hit by a passenger car in Kumamoto Prefecture on the very day, September 21, when she was crossing at the crosswalk on her way to a meeting for the aged. The driver of the car involved was an 86-year-old man, who was going home after attending the same meeting.
An extended life expectancy is a desirable event, but an unwelcome situation had come before Japan recognized it. The current regime of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is busy improving Japan’s defense capability by allowing itself to exercise a collective defense right, when necessary, and pulling up Japan’s economy from years of deflation. Many elderly people have realized that they have to defend their life by themselves from now on. Someone may try to explore a new life path or pattern, but this is not feasible for all elderly people.
How to support elderly people’s life is a matter which must be addressed by the whole society. The Respect for the Aged Day, the national holiday, is expected to be an important occasion for Japanese to seriously think about how to overcome the aging of society, which may otherwise erode Japan’s national strength in the future.
According to a government report, the number of people aged 65 or over came to 33.8 million as of September 15, accounting for 26.7 percent of the total population. Both figures were the highest ever. The percentage of those 80 or older increased to 7.9 percent. Every one of 10 women was 80 or older. A different report showed the number of centenarians in Japan has surpassed 60,000.
According to an estimate by the National Institute of Population and Security Research, elderly people will account for 36.1 percent of the total population in the year of 2040, when “second baby-boomers” born in the early 1970s will be 65 or older.
The unabated fast aging of society pushes up the government’s social security expenses, particularly medical care spending for the elderly. This represents a threat not just for the country but also for elderly people themselves, as the government has come to reduce the social security budget, rather than beefing up the social security system.Japan’s universal health insurance system, established in 1961, made medical service widely available to people of all walks of life, contributing to extending the life expectancy of Japanese people. But Japan’s population started decreasing around 2008, because of a declining birthrate. The situation surrounding elderly people is becoming complex following changes in Japan’s social structure, notably a trend toward the nuclear family. Pension income and support by the younger generation are less dependable than ever for elderly people. About one of five elderly persons in Japan is said to be living below the poverty line.
Japan is becoming a difficult country for elderly people to live in, critics say. The one can easily find newspaper articles about cases in which elderly people fell victims to clever money transfer frauds across the country. The damage involved is estimated at tens of billions of yen a year. Traffic accidents linked to erroneous or inappropriate driving by old persons are often reported. Many old people tend to feel small in the situation.
Community-sponsored meetings to show respect to the aged take place in various regions on the national holiday. A 91-year-old woman was fatally hit by a passenger car in Kumamoto Prefecture on the very day, September 21, when she was crossing at the crosswalk on her way to a meeting for the aged. The driver of the car involved was an 86-year-old man, who was going home after attending the same meeting.
An extended life expectancy is a desirable event, but an unwelcome situation had come before Japan recognized it. The current regime of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is busy improving Japan’s defense capability by allowing itself to exercise a collective defense right, when necessary, and pulling up Japan’s economy from years of deflation. Many elderly people have realized that they have to defend their life by themselves from now on. Someone may try to explore a new life path or pattern, but this is not feasible for all elderly people.
How to support elderly people’s life is a matter which must be addressed by the whole society. The Respect for the Aged Day, the national holiday, is expected to be an important occasion for Japanese to seriously think about how to overcome the aging of society, which may otherwise erode Japan’s national strength in the future.
