Family and Care Work Facing Social Change and Globalization: Conjunction between Family, Care Work and Immigration in Japan

2. Transformation Of Family Care: From A ‘Safety Net’ To ‘Family-As-Risk’

The post war economic development and prosperity has brought a longer life expectancy to the population in the developed countries at an unprecedented level including Japan as a top runner (Figure 1).

Figure 1.

Ratio of population above 65

In 2011, the life expectancy of Japanese men marked 79.44 and 85.90 for women which were the world longest life expectancy. This is a striking development compared to 1947 when the life expectancy for men was 50.06 and 53.96 for women. Within 65 years, the life expectancy has dramatically expanded for approximately 30 years (MHWL, 2011a). However, this triumph has drastically changed the demographic structure when the fertility rate started to fall. In 1950, the population above 65 was less than 5 million or 5% of the total population but within half a century it tripled (Figure 2).

Figure 2.

Demographic change in post-war Japan