As the number of senior citizens living alone in Japan increases, by 2050 one elderly person in every 5 households, or 1.1 million people, will be living alone. This will create huge pressure on the social security system. This information has been mentioned in a recent report of Japan’s National Institute of Population and Social Security Research.
The report of the government-recognized research organization shows how helpless most of the elderly people in Japan will be when they reach retirement age after working hard all their lives. The Japanese government is looking for ways to serve the large number of elderly people.
The Japanese organization publishes such research reports every 5 years. According to the latest research report published on April 12, 2020, 7.37 million elderly people lived alone in the country, which is 13.2 percent of the total households. In 2050, the number of single-person households will reach 23.3 million, which is 44.3 percent of total households.
According to the report, the crisis is due to the high tendency of young people to marry late and not have children.
Talked to a 78-year-old man named Shigeo at a Seven Eleven super shop in Tokyo. He said that his wife is sick and cannot move around much. So even at this age he has to do his own work besides looking after his wife. The only daughter is married and lives elsewhere. Sometimes the girl comes and helps him prepare food and do some important work. He is worried about how long it will be possible to run like this.
Japanese citizens are considered elderly when they are 65 years old. At that age a citizen officially retires and starts receiving pension. The number of people of that age in that country is about 30 percent (about 40 million), according to a statistic of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan.
Japan, one of the countries with the highest life expectancy in the world, has a large elderly population. After becoming economically strong in the eighties of the last century, the population of this country, one of the largest economies in the world, is gradually decreasing. Although the Japanese government has taken various initiatives to maintain the population balance, it is not working very well.
More than 10 percent of Japan’s population is 80 years or older. As the birth rate decreases and the number of elderly people increases, the Japanese government’s expenses are gradually increasing in order to ensure their pensions, medical care and other benefits. As the number of seniors increases, so does the labor shortage.
According to a report by the international news agency Reuters, one-third of men in Tokyo are not married at the age of 50. According to data from the country’s human resources firm Recruit Holding, 46 percent of Japanese men and 30 percent of women have never dated before the age of 20.
Still most elderly people have children and siblings to look after them. But after 30 years, the proportion of childless elderly single-person families will decrease as well as the number of relatives, the research report said.
Japan is losing 6 to 6.5 million people every year. If this trend continues, in 2030 this number will stand at around 10 lakh, according to various studies.
According to government data released last April, Japan’s population will drop by nearly 6 million to 12.4 million by 2023.
Due to various reasons including population reduction, many super shops or daily market shops in different cities of Japan have been closed one by one, the elderly residents of that country are in extreme trouble. It has become difficult for them to buy daily necessities including food.
According to a study by the Policy Research Institute of Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, more than 8.2 million elderly people find it difficult to travel for shopping.
Due to the closure of shops, the local government has taken the initiative of running mobile shops through retailers in various areas, but it is insufficient compared to the requirement, said the residents of the concerned areas. Besides, some people are investing to start area-based super shops for their own needs. Due to various crises, it is not going well. Even after retirement, many people work in various private companies. Hundreds of people search for jobs every day.
Lonely People Voluntarily Go to Jail: Many elderly people voluntarily go to jail to escape loneliness and unable to meet daily expenses. For this purpose they are involved in various crimes. According to reports published in various Japanese media, many have committed multiple crimes after being released from prison and returning to prison after a few days. Generally they do not commit major crimes. He was caught by the police after stealing a bicycle from the side of the road or stealing small goods from the shop. Some went to prison even after raising knives and scaring people. Of course, they don’t show a knife to hurt someone. They went to prison to live and eat without cost as well as to spend loneliness.
Although the Japanese are very law-abiding, some people commit petty crimes. Most of them are people above 65 years of age. In 1997, one in every 20 criminals was over the age of 65. Now he is one of the number four.
Various surveys have also revealed that many retired old people are in debt without being able to meet their daily expenses with their pension money. Earthquakes occur frequently in Japan. The elderly are the most vulnerable in disasters like earthquakes.
A person named Yuta Sato from Kita City said that he lives in Tokyo because of the job. After his father’s death, his old grandmother lives alone in the village as his mother is separated. Once a week he comes with his daily market and medicines. He is always worried whether grandmother is having trouble or not. He does not spend time with friends or go anywhere on holidays to give time to his grandmother.
Talking to people in Japan, it is known that there are cases where a lonely old man or old woman dies one day while living alone at home. No one notices them until the stench of dead rotting spreads around. After several years of decaying skeletons, this becomes known while paying various utility bills. These bills are automatically paid from the money deposited in the bank. Rarely, when he comes to his house to collect the outstanding bills, he is found dead and a skeleton.
