Reserch Question

 Reserch Question

What is the cause of aging society?        Ageing: Global population (who.int)

A. The aging of the world's population is result of the continued decline in fertility rates and increased life expectancy. This changes have resulted in increasing numbers of people who are over 65. As a result, the time when the number of older people will exceed that of younger is approaching.

Does government develop enough infrastructure?   高齢社会白書 “居住環境確保へ リフォーム支援など促進重要” | NHK

A. Yes, but the further development is needed to solve aging society. In Japan, government try to provide elderly people with barrierfreeroom to live safely. Nowadays, more and more elderly people feel concerned about deteriorating their house. Although introducing well equipped house to elderly people can be a beneficial for our society, this change could not solve aging society.

How many elderly people living alone?    65歳以上の高齢者の5人の1人は、一人暮らしをしている - シニアガイド (seniorguide.jp)

A. According to MIC survey, one in five elderly people are living alone and they account for nearly 20% of single household in Japan. 

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/4001383/

After watching the documentary of Hikikomori problem in Japan, I thought this problem might not any concern to aging problem, but it connected partially.  The most famous problem is called 80-50 problem, which means 80 year old parents care 50 year old child. The percentage of elderly are gradually high that this problem got more seriously. In 2020, there were 333 cases of high risk alone death which are enormous, and 72 people died while receiving support shows that do some support are not enough and they need more support, but for the fact, only 15.6% of people visited the welfare office on their own initiative. They kill themself for their choice, they really don't want to communicate with other people even their family.

Aging in rural area

 Today, my friend Ryu from Akita came to visit Tokyo. It was his first time in such a big city, and he was amazed by the sheer number of people. When I mentioned that I’d like to try living in the countryside, he immediately dismissed it, saying it would be incredibly boring with nothing to do. He had a point.

The most engaging part of our conversation was about population, especially the elderly. Sure, Tokyo, being a major urban area, has a much larger population than Akita, with plenty of both young and old people. However, Ryu insisted, "Akita is full of old people." This stuck with me, so I looked it up later.

I found out that despite Tokyo having about ten times the elderly population compared to Akita, the percentage of elderly people is 23% in Tokyo versus a striking 35% in Akita. Projections for 2045 are even more startling: Tokyo's elderly population is expected to be 30%, whereas in Akita, it's predicted to reach 50%. This means Akita's elderly rate is set to increase twice as much as Tokyo's. This stark difference between urban and rural areas in terms of elderly population ratios made me curious.

Digging deeper, I learned that it’s not just that the elderly are increasing in the countryside, but also that younger people are moving to urban areas for work. Additionally, the lower living costs in rural areas compared to cities make them attractive for retirees.

Personally, I find it problematic that young people are leaving their elderly behind to move to the cities. This could lead to a situation where there aren’t enough young people to support the growing elderly population, much like those illustrations you often see on the internet where a few young people are depicted as carrying the burden of many elderly. Considering this, I believe local governments need to take more action to address this issue. I’ve decided that I want to support politicians who aim to solve these problems and will vote accordingly.

4 地域別にみた高齢化|平成30年版高齢社会白書(全体版) - 内閣府. (n.d.). 内閣府ホームページ. https://www8.cao.go.jp/kourei/whitepaper/w-2018/html/zenbun/s1_1_4.html

4 地域別に見た高齢化|令和4年版高齢社会白書(全体版) - 内閣府. (n.d.). 内閣府ホームページ. https://www8.cao.go.jp/kourei/whitepaper/w-2022/html/zenbun/s1_1_4.html

The situation of aging society in Japan and Qatar

 My name is Ken. I am Japanese. The other day, while exchanging messages with Ali, who lives in Qatar, we happened to talk about aging. In Japan, aging is treated as a major social issue, as a matter of course. However, it seems that aging is not an issue at all in Qatar. The elderly population ratio in Qatar is only 1.5%. Other countries like the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain also have low percentages. A common factor among these countries is that they are oil-producing nations, but the reason lies in the influx of migrant workers. Specifically, people of working age (15-64 years old) come to these countries seeking employment. However, it is extremely difficult for foreigners to acquire citizenship, and many of them tend to return to their home countries as they get older. When applying this to Japan, I thought that, first of all, Japan does not accept immigrants at all, and with the weak yen, support would be necessary.

宮路秀作. (2021, July 28). 少子高齢化を逃れる産油国の「合理的な国策」とは? ダイヤモンド・オンライン. https://diamond.jp/articles/-/277993?page=2

https://www.jetro.go.jp/ext_images/jfile/report/07000700/uae_medical_device.pdf

Should government extend retirement age?

 More than 1 in 10 people in Japan are aged 80 or over and almost a third of its population is over 65 which is estimated 36.23 million people. This is having a profound impact on japan especially workplace. 

 Personally, I confident that government should extend retirement age. According to world economic forum, Japan is already facing a labour shortage and by 2040 it can be lacking 11 million workers. This prediction led to introduce "the guideline of measures for aging society in 2018 to encourage older people to continue to work. The lack of people in the workplace can cause the shrinking of company's productivity. Most company surely want to avoid getting this worse situation by maintaining their working population. Extending the retirement age can let older people to remain at the company longer than ever before, so in my opinion it is the key to reduce the impact on workplace.

 However, it has some drawbacks for elderly people to work for a long period. Firstly, if the work is too physically hard, it could be not good for their health. In most cases, older people is not so powerful compared to younger people. This age-related issue can make working difficult. So it seems tough for those who have a job involving physical labour to continue working. Next, some people may prefer to retire to spend more time with family, travel or their hobby. Extending retirement age can make it difficult for elderly workers to choose retirement before reaching extended retirement age. Maintaining current retirement age can make it easy for elderly workers who want to enjoy the rest of their life to choose retirement.

 Overall, extending retirement age has both benefits and drawbacks. In my opinion, government should introduce this rule to companies, because current aging society in Japan triggerd some challenging problems related to workplace such as worker shortages. Under Japanese super aging society, it can be the best way to maintain workforse.

More than 1 in 10 people in #Japan are aged 80 or over. Here’s how its ageing population is reshaping the country. (2023, December 25). World Economic Forum. How Japan can take the lead with an ageing workforce. (2020, February 8). World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/japan-reskilling-aging-workforce/

Is elderly workforce is essential? : from the perspective of a 70 year old man working at a company in rural area

 Hello, I am Yoshio, working at one of  companis in Iwate prefecture. It has been about 50 years since I started working at this company, and now that I am the second most senior person of my company. Our company was composed of nearly 500 people, being designated as large company. However, recently we have been struggling with worker shortages due to decrease of younger workforce. 

In fact, the birth rate in Japan has been decreasing over many years, so the number of people who apply to our company get decrease in recent years. What's more, more and more people living in Ichinoseki where our company is located have moved to city like Tokyo, Kanagawa, and Chiba. This situation caused decrease of younger population which is needed for our company. I know living in city is more attractive and more convinient than living in such rural area. However current worker shortage is really bad for our company, which lead to shrinking of our company. 

Although our company barely keep running, shrinking of working population would continue until more and more younger people apply to our company. Now over 50% of employee of our company is elderly people. This older work force including me is really needed to keep running, but I think it cannot continue for a long time. Though elderly people play an important role in our company, younger workforce is also essential in the long run.

Takahara, K. (2024, June 5). Japan’s birth rate hit new low in 2023. The Japan Times. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/06/05/japan/society/japan-birth-rate-2023/

000629037.pdf (soumu.go.jp)

Research Question: When is the right time to retire from work

I am Takeshi, 65 year old man working at a manufacturing company in Kanagawa. It has been 40 years, since I started working for this company. These days, retirement age of my company was extended to 70 and some people  keep working even they are over 60. To be honest, I planed to retire from work at the age of 60 and wanted to go on a trip, but I have to keep earning money to support a family. 

I have two children who are college studens. They had been in the public school before enrolling in college, so tuition was not so expensive. However, now that both of them are in the private university, so the tuition is too expensive. I need to pay nearly totaled 10 million yen to let them graduate from college.  What is more, everything from food to electricity bills is getting really expensive nowadays. However, a salary I receive every month does not get higher since COVID-19 pandemic. My wife work as a part time job, but this is not enough to maintain our life. Thus it is getting really hard to live a life. Some people say that you can receive the pension after retirement. However, if I retire from work immediately, the amount of pension I can receive get decrese because of extending retirement age. I have no choice but to keep working by reaching extended retirement age to let children to study at college and maintain our life. 

Personally, I think the age of 60 is the right time for workers to retire to enjoy the rest of their life, but it is too difficult under current Japanese society. Japan currently faced aging society so that the number of older get increase but that of younger decrease. Therefore older workforse is needed to maintain the company's structure. As I mentioned above, prices are going up, but wages are not in Japan, so there is no choice but to keep working even after 65 where people define as elderly people.

ChauC. (2021, April 6). Japan approves law raising retirement age to 70 | HRM Asia. HRM Asia.  https://hrmasia.com/japan-approves-law-raising-retirement-age-to-70/#:~:text=Japan%20approves%20law%20raising%20retirement%20age%20to%2070,raising%20the%20retirement%20age%20from%2065%20to%2070.

Nagata, K. (2022, February 3). Global inflation wave pushes up prices in Japan on everything from pasta to gasoline. The Japan Times. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/02/03/business/economy-business/inflation-wave-japan/#:~:text=The%20global%20inflation%20wave%20is%20seeping%20into%20the,up%20costs%20of%20everyday%20goods%2C%20gasoline%20and%20power.

30 Questions related to our topic that we will research

1.       What is the solution to this problem?

2.       Is this problem related to the low birth rate problem?

3.       In rural areas, the percentage of elderly people is more than the percentage of younger people?

4.       In a city, the percentage of younger people is more than the percentage of elderly people?

5.       Is the average age among workers gradually high?

6.       Is the average age of retirement gradually high?

7.       Is the average age of women having babies increasing?

8.       Does this problem lead to another problem?

9.       Is medical development related to this problem?

10.    Is the support system for elderly people increasing?

11.    What kinds of support systems are there?

12.    Is the number of nursing homes increasing?

13.    What is the situation of this problem for each country?

14.    Is there any problem leading to this problem in the world?

15.    Which countries are serious about this issue?

16.    When to retire from work?

17.    What is the cause of aging society?

18.    Is elderly workforce essential?

19.    How many older people living alone?

20.    Does elderly people reduce job opportunities for younger people?

21.    Does elderly people take enough nursing care?

22.    Which is necessary longevity or quality of life?

23.    Does government develop enough infrastructure?

24.    Can Robot help older people?

25.    Should older people make full use of smartphone?

26.    Is early retirement good for older people?

27.    Should government expand retirement age?

28.    Does aging society increase the burden of younger people?

29.    Does older people get enough pensions under aging society.

30.    How many older people keep working even they exceed retirement age?