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Mushrooming Costs of Japan's Aging Population

Japan's old shy away from retiring

By: Jonathan Watts
Guardian, August 5, 2002

Japanese babies can expect to live longer than anyone else on Earth, according to the latest government statistics, but their extra years are more likely to be spent hard at work than in leisurely retirement.

Thanks to a low-fat diet, reliable healthcare and high standards of living, the average Japanese girl born last year will live for nearly 85 years, while boys will not breathe their last until just over 78.

In Britain, forecast longevity is about 80 years for women and 75 years for men.

But with one of the lowest birthrates in the world, politicians, demographers and civil servants warn that the retirement age will have to be extended to save Japan's pension and healthcare systems from collapsing under the weight of an ageing and shrinking population.

Japan is home to the world's oldest woman, Kamoto Hongo, 115 this year; the oldest man, 113-year-old Yukichi Chuganji; and the community with the highest proportion of centenarians, the 33 per 100,000 people of Okinawa

Such a blessing could become a curse for society if current trends continue. At present, there are four people in work to every retiree. But in 25 years, the ratio will fall to two to one as the number aged over 75 triples.

Changes are already apparent. Last year, the number of those aged over 70 eclipsed those under 10 for the first time, with the government forecasting the population peaking in 2006 at 127.74m.

"We need a higher level of participation of women and elderly in the labour force," warned the minister of trade and industry, Takeo Hiranuma. "We have to turn ageing into a locomotive for growth. We need to change mindsets."

Senior citizens, who grew up in the postwar era of hard work and rapid growth, are willing and able to comply. Two in three of those aged over 65 want to keep working as long as they are healthy - a far higher proportion than in other developed nations.

One leader of the campaign for longer working lives is Shigeaki Hinohara, aged 90 and the honorary president of St Luke's Hospital in Tokyo, who has formed a pressure group to raise the definition of elderly people up from 65 to 75.

"That definition was established 50 years ago when the average life span was 63. Now it is closer to 80 and time for a rethink," he said. "People can be productive and in good shape until they are 75."

But most businesses remain reluctant to extend working lives. Although the labour ministry has asked business to voluntarily keep staff on until 65, very few have done so.

Employers' groups oppose a lifting of the mandatory retirement age, which they have used to lay off workers during Japan's prolonged slump.

But civil servants say it is only a matter of time until the retirement age is extended.

Naoki Ikegami, of the health, welfare and labour ministry, said: "Retirement ages will definitely start to rise, probably in about five years time when the baby-boomer generation starts to claim their pensions."