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Japan May Solve Elderly Population Problem by Redefining “Elderly”
How do you solve the problem of a rapidly aging population? Japan’s government has a novel answer: change what “elderly” means.
What happens when a government needs to look after a country that just recorded its lowest number of births and highest percentage of elders in the same year? That’s Japan. In 2023, a record low of 758,631 children were born while people over 65 made up 29.1% of the population.
The working-age demographic is shrinking. The government’s solution? Change the definition of what “elderly” means by extending it from age 65 to age 70.
Longer lifespan puts longer employment on the table
Age is not just a number. How old you are defines your scope of rights in the eyes of government.
Japan redefined adulthood in 2022, lowering it from 20 to 18. Now, it’s floating the idea of redefining elderhood, raising it from 65 to 70.
On Thursday, the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy panel heard the proposal to change the legal definition of elders by…
