Hi!
Could someone please tell me whether the following newspaper article I found in an English school book is fake or true? Did any "exports" actually take place??? Any links or proofs?
Help would me much appreciated!!!! :sorry:
Here comes the article:
"The Japanese have discovered a new way of coping with the increasing numbers of old people in their society. They may export them to Africa. Soon, up to 300 000 Japanese pensioners could find themselves spending their retirement years in Senegal.
As a result of high life expectancy, almost a quarter of the population will be pensioners (over 65 years of age) by 2025. This will be the highest proportion of old people in any industrial nation.
The extraordinary scheme, which may take thousands of pensioners to Senegal in West Africa, was launched by the Japanese government in 1991. It is called "Extended Leisure Stays Abroad". Work has already begun on a retirement city 80 km north of Dakar on the Atlantic coast of Senegal. The development will include an airport and 25 golf courses.
The benefit of the scheme is that it will be cheaper to support the pensioners overseas rather than in Japan where costs of housing, food and medical care are high. In Senegal, for example, a qualified nurse's monthly salary of 50 Pounds is much less than the equivalent in Japan of over 2000 Pounds.
In addition to this scheme the Japanese government plans to encourage its pensioners to settle in expatriate communities in Australia and Hawaii."
Could someone please tell me whether the following newspaper article I found in an English school book is fake or true? Did any "exports" actually take place??? Any links or proofs?
Help would me much appreciated!!!! :sorry:
Here comes the article:
A New Export from Japan
"The Japanese have discovered a new way of coping with the increasing numbers of old people in their society. They may export them to Africa. Soon, up to 300 000 Japanese pensioners could find themselves spending their retirement years in Senegal.
As a result of high life expectancy, almost a quarter of the population will be pensioners (over 65 years of age) by 2025. This will be the highest proportion of old people in any industrial nation.
The extraordinary scheme, which may take thousands of pensioners to Senegal in West Africa, was launched by the Japanese government in 1991. It is called "Extended Leisure Stays Abroad". Work has already begun on a retirement city 80 km north of Dakar on the Atlantic coast of Senegal. The development will include an airport and 25 golf courses.
The benefit of the scheme is that it will be cheaper to support the pensioners overseas rather than in Japan where costs of housing, food and medical care are high. In Senegal, for example, a qualified nurse's monthly salary of 50 Pounds is much less than the equivalent in Japan of over 2000 Pounds.
In addition to this scheme the Japanese government plans to encourage its pensioners to settle in expatriate communities in Australia and Hawaii."