Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses reasons as to why the policy reforms conducted by the Japanese government in the areas of birthrate decline and the elderly care in the last 30 years have been so ineffective by considering the political logic and ideas behind the policy-making,

Paper long abstract:

It was in 1990 that the birthrate decline was first identified by the policy-making elites as an imminent political problem that the Japanese state was facing. The issues of ageing and the elderly care were acknowledged in the policy-making process much earlier. For more than 30 years, a series of policies have been proposed and implemented to tackle the issues of birthrate decline and the elderly care. Indeed, family policy is one of the most dynamic policy areas in Japan in which we can observe frequent reforms. Yet, the current states of childbirth and the elderly care suggest that these reforms have achieved very little policy outcome. This urges us to ask some fundamental questions about the political process concerning the issues of birthrate decline and the elderly care: why have the policies targeting the issues of birthrate decline and the elderly care been so ineffective and how can these policies be improved to realize the intended policy outcomes?

The proposed paper is a small attempt to consider some of the questions above. The first section of the paper traces the trajectory of policy-making in the areas of birthrate decline and the elderly care for the last 30 years by identifying first, the policy objectives and tools of each piece of policy, and second, the implications generated from the interplays of different pieces of policy. Then, the second section examines government documents and parliamentary discussions to identify the political logics and ideas behind the Japanese government's policy-making. By taking these steps, the paper aims to achieve a concrete understanding of gaps between policy rhetoric and the reality of policy implementation. In particular, the paper highlights the national government's persistent reliance on the family as the care provider, even under the Abe government which has been advocating loudly the promotion of female labour force. In this sense, policy changes in the area of family policy have not yet touched upon the fundamental structural problems, and hence, 'structural reform' in the area of family policy is yet to be seen.