Care regimes and responses: East Asian experiences compared

Abstract

The five Asian societies reviewed in this special issue have exhibited similar demographic trends, which have, in turn, presented similar challenges to their care systems. Various care regimes and arrangements have been initiated to tackle these recent challenges. Care regimes rely on care services from different sectors. While the family retains its significant role in all these societies, its care burden has been shared by other sectors, especially the state. While the state primarily provides funding, community and market sectors are playing a more significant role in the provision of services. Demographic and political forces (e.g. feminism, elderly and children's rights advocacy) have compelled the state to expand its involvement; however, the details of the reconstituted care regimes and the redistribution of roles and burdens reflect each society's institutional legacy, their ideological commitment to state or market, and their range of alternatives to state provision.