Apollo
先輩
- 28 Mar 2004
- 1,722
- 45
- 63
The ageing of Japanese society has been a topic of great concern and much discussion in Japan. The ageing of society is a topic of discussion in most developed countries, but in Japan this issue seems to be particularly high on the agenda.
This reflects the fact that Japan is experiencing a more rapid ageing of its population than most other countries 窶 a result of an increase in life expenctacy 窶 the highest in the world 窶 and a reduction in the fertility rate to one of the lowest in the world.
In 1985, approx. 10% of the Japanese pop. Was 65 years old or older. By 2000, this share increased to 17%, similar to that in Sweden and around 2% higher than the other Nordic countries. The percentage is expected to increase further, to reach more than 25% in 2015 窶 a much more rapid demographic transition than in the Nordic countries.
While the share of the population 65 years old or older is expected to increase by 15% in Japan during the period from 1985 to 2015, the figures for the Nordic countries vary from less than 1% for Norway to 7,5% for Finland, with Sweden and Denmark between 3 - 4%.
This poses many challenges, such as increasing pressure on the health and home care system and on the pension system.
Changes in the social structure, especially the increasing population of women in the labour force, which are occurring in parallel with the ageing of people, are putting pressure on existing traditions, policies and institutions. This is due to the fact that traditionally, much of the care of the elderly has been handled by women looking after their relatives, and now that they have joined the workforce, they do not have much time to care for relatives.
The lack of appropriate elderly care has put pressure on the medical care system, in the form of what is called social hospitalisation. This refers to a practice in which the elderly are hospitalised unnecessarily, or for too long, because of a lack of other, more appropriate alternatives of nursing and medical care.
And now, the elderly and disabled persons have become a growing market in Japan for new and expanding business opportunities. E.g. The pharmaceutical industry with diabetes medicine etc. Many foreign companies have entered the Japanese market only because of this.
And many Japanese firms are involved in the development of robots to care for the elderly 窶 pet robots. (from about 1999 by Sony, NEC and Matsushita). Matsushita窶冱 cat-robot called 窶弋ama,窶 is popular. Furthermore, the Matsushita Group opened a factory especially adapted for people aged 65+.
Interesting!!
This reflects the fact that Japan is experiencing a more rapid ageing of its population than most other countries 窶 a result of an increase in life expenctacy 窶 the highest in the world 窶 and a reduction in the fertility rate to one of the lowest in the world.
In 1985, approx. 10% of the Japanese pop. Was 65 years old or older. By 2000, this share increased to 17%, similar to that in Sweden and around 2% higher than the other Nordic countries. The percentage is expected to increase further, to reach more than 25% in 2015 窶 a much more rapid demographic transition than in the Nordic countries.
While the share of the population 65 years old or older is expected to increase by 15% in Japan during the period from 1985 to 2015, the figures for the Nordic countries vary from less than 1% for Norway to 7,5% for Finland, with Sweden and Denmark between 3 - 4%.
This poses many challenges, such as increasing pressure on the health and home care system and on the pension system.
Changes in the social structure, especially the increasing population of women in the labour force, which are occurring in parallel with the ageing of people, are putting pressure on existing traditions, policies and institutions. This is due to the fact that traditionally, much of the care of the elderly has been handled by women looking after their relatives, and now that they have joined the workforce, they do not have much time to care for relatives.
The lack of appropriate elderly care has put pressure on the medical care system, in the form of what is called social hospitalisation. This refers to a practice in which the elderly are hospitalised unnecessarily, or for too long, because of a lack of other, more appropriate alternatives of nursing and medical care.
And now, the elderly and disabled persons have become a growing market in Japan for new and expanding business opportunities. E.g. The pharmaceutical industry with diabetes medicine etc. Many foreign companies have entered the Japanese market only because of this.
And many Japanese firms are involved in the development of robots to care for the elderly 窶 pet robots. (from about 1999 by Sony, NEC and Matsushita). Matsushita窶冱 cat-robot called 窶弋ama,窶 is popular. Furthermore, the Matsushita Group opened a factory especially adapted for people aged 65+.
Interesting!!
