JAPAN: More Than 20 Per Cent of Over-65s Are in Employment

TOKYO (Mainichi Daily News), July 1, 2006: Japan's elderly are working harder than those in other developed countries, results of a national census show. More than 20 percent of those aged 65 or over in Japan are in employment, significantly larger than figures in other advanced countries, the preliminary results of the national census have shown. The results suggested that a growing number of elderly people are healthy enough to work and have a desire to work in their golden years, while a large number of senior citizens have to work for financial reasons. According to the preliminary figures of the national census, 22.2 percent of people aged 65 or over were in employment as of October 2005. By gender, 33.1 percent of elderly men and 14.2 percent of aged women in Japan were working. About half -- 50.2 percent -- of men aged between 65 and 69 are working or intend to work. The figure -- 22.2 percent -- is significantly higher than that in France (1.2 percent) and Germany (2.9 percent), the International Labor Organization figures show. The figure in Italy is only 3.4 percent, even though the population is aging rapidly like that of Japan. About 14 percent of elderly men in the United States are in employment. The Cabinet Office attributes the wide gap to cultural differences. "French and Italian people prefer to enjoy something other than work," an official said. Japanese people tend to find their meaning of life in their work. However, a growing number of healthy elderly people want to work to maintain their health. The census results show that over 30 percent of elderly people aged 65 or over want to work in order to maintain their health. Others cited financial problems as the reason for working. About 20 percent of women and 13 percent of men say they work despite their advanced age because they need to bring in some income. Copyright 2005-2006 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. Today's edition of The Japan Times states: The Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry's report underscores the steady aging of Japanese society with its shrinking child population. It is also the first time the percentage of elderly topped the 20 percent threshold. In 1960, 30.2 percent of the population was under age 15, while only 5.7 percent were age 65 or older. Of Japan's total population of 127.76 million, the elderly account for 26.82 million, up 3.7 percentage points from the previous census in 2000. By prefecture, Akita has the highest proportion of elderly, at 28.1 percent, followed by Shimane at 28 percent and Kochi at 27.1 percent. Saitama had the lowest proportion of elderly, at 16.9 percent, followed by Kanagawa, at 17.3 percent, and Okinawa, at 17.4 percent. Since the previous census, the proportion of elderly increased in all 47 prefectures, with Nara seeing the largest rise, of 5 percentage points. Meanwhile, the number of elderly living alone totaled 4.05 million, topping the 4 million mark for the first time since the census began in 1920. The average number of family members per household also hit a record low 2.6. The Japan Times (C) All rights reserved