Changing Intra-familial Income Transfers, Family Organization and Norms of Filial Care for the Elderly in Japan and Selected Asian Countries
From 6 to 8 September Project Professor Ogawa participated in the HelpAge Asia-Pacific Regional Conference, held in Hanoi, Vietnam.
By drawing upon a number of NTA estimates for Japan, Prof. Ogawa presented on the pattern of change in the intergenerational transfers in Japan in the period from 1984 to 2009. The quantity of public transfers for the elderly on a per capita basis increased over time to an enormous extent. In contrast, the opposite pattern was observed with respect to familial transfers for the elderly. In particular, the total net flow of familial transfers for the elderly aged 65 and over became negative during 2004-2009 because they provided a substantial financial assistance to their younger family members to cope with economic uncertainties induced by the subprime loan crisis and the Lehman Shock.
In addition, the norms related to taking care of elderly parents by their adult children deteriorated abruptly after the mid-1980s when the Japanese government began to drastically downsize the coverage of the social security system.
At the end of his presentation, Prof. Ogawa compared these Japanese time-series changes in the intergenerational transfer pattern with those observed in other Asian countries, and found that South Korea’s case was fairly comparable to the Japanese experience.