Child care and elder care regimes in Japan

Abstract

Japan has one of the lowest fertility rates (1.37 in 2009) and one of the highest proportions of seniors (22.1% in 2009) in the world. Pronatalist policy reforms have been developed in recent years, which call into question long-standing assumptions about the provision of care by the state, the market, non-profit organisations and the family. This article examines how the balance of the four poles of the “care diamond” is changing in terms of financing and providing elder and child care in Japan. We begin by briefly explaining the foundation of social care and Japanese social policy development, which is the background of the current policy agenda for child and elder care in Japan. We then explain the current elder and child care policies, and examine the results of the government's plan of “defamilialisation”.