Paper short abstract:

This paper argues that elderly care in Japan has shifted the role of the family and, additionally, is a facilitator for regional economic and structural development by itself.

Paper long abstract:

As a superannuated society, Japan has to bear the consequences of aging. Besides a tight fiscal situation, the vast aging creates concerns on several other levels: the demographic outlook, the decline of regional economy, and the emergence of social risks through structural reforms. Structural reforms of the social security system at the beginning of the century set the cornerstone for institutional change of the family and the welfare creation within the Japanese society. By introducing the long-term care insurance, a variety of market services emerged in order to increase the aging populations' autonomy and lower the burden on families by emphasizing the reliance on formal care.

This paper argues that elderly care in Japan has shifted the role of the family and, additionally, is a facilitator for regional economic and structural development by itself. Furthermore, the structural reforms of the social security system were continued under the Abe administration in that very same aspect. They further increased the role of regional markets and local communities. The Japanese welfare state forms a dichotomous relationship between rural and urban regions, created through elderly care markets by the availability of and accessibility to welfare institutions. Elderly care markets surfaced as a source of regional vitalization, drawing in enormous financial contributions by the national and local governments and establishing infrastructure and institutional support. The social consequences of elderly care markets lie, besides achieving an increased autonomy of the elderly and improvements of the seniors' quality of life, in the creation of community and marketization of elderly care. As the national government continues to nurture local bottom-up approaches to elderly care needs while keeping the control of regulations and spending, regionally heterogeneous elderly care markets continue to develop.