Full Description
Thirty years ago, when compared to the U.S., England, France, and Sweden, Japan had the lowest life expectancy for males and females. Today, Japan has the highest life expectancy and is the world's most rapidly aging society. Public Policy and the Old Age Revolution in Japan captures the vitality of Japanese policymakers and the challenges they face in shaping a modern society responding to its changing needs. The rapid transition to an aging society poses a set of complex policy and resource dilemmas; the responses taken in Japan are of great value to policymakers, professionals, and students in the fields of gerontology, Asian and Japanese studies, sociology, public policy, administration and management, and anthropology in other industrial aging societies. Readers of Public Policy and the Old Age Revolution in Japan will discover the array of social and economic implications that comes with an increasingly aged society. Such a change in demographics affects pension expenditures and pension contributions, capital formation and savings rates, health costs, service systems, tax bases, labor pools, career counseling, training, advertising, and marketing. This book does not stop with these topics, however. Readers also learn about:
how older Japanese workers are staying employed and employable
policies in Japan for a smooth transition from work to retirement
Japan's Silver Human Resource Centers
the new direction of health services in Japan
the Japanese financing system for elderly health care
the expansion of formalized in-home services for Japan's aged
Japanese housing policy and the concept of universal design
the Gold Plan, a comprehensive ten-year plan to promote health care and welfare for the aged
the concept of ikigai--promoting feelings of purpose and self-worth in the agedPublic Policy and the Old Age Revolution in Japan is one of only a handful of books prepared in English by American and Japanese authors for an international audience about aging and social policy in Japan. The book's recent collection of articles by leading scholars on the subject makes it a unique and timely source of information. Above all, Public Policy and the Old Age Revolution in Japan makes it clear that the rest of the world has many valuable lessons to learn by studying Japan's approach to its rapidly aging society.
Contents
Contents
Introduction
Japan's Aging Society
Health and Social Care
Health Status of Elderly Japanese and the New Direction of Health Services
Japan's Financing System for Elderly Health Care: In Search of Better and Equitable Burden-Sharing for the 21st Century
Paying for the Health and Social Care of the Elderly in Japan
Work and Retirement
Work and Retirement in Japan
The Challenge of an Aging Work Force: Keeping Older Workers Employed and Employable
Japanese Policies for a Smoother Transition From Work to Retirement
Between Policy and Practice: Japan's Silver Human Resource Centers as Viewed From the Inside
Social Policy
Implementing Public Policies and Services in Rural Japan: Issues and Problems
Expansion of Formalized In-Home Services for Japan's Aged
Possibilities for Change to Universal Design: Japanese Housing Policy for Seniors at the Crossroads
From Transfer to Social Services: A New Emphasis for Social Policies for the Aged in Japan
Reference Notes Included
