OECD Average Research Articles

Comparison of Lower Secondary School Education of Mathematics in the Czech Republic and Selected Countries with Respect to Curriculum Documents

Results from the PISA international surveys in 2012 and 2015 show that the performance of Czech pupils in mathematics was statistically comparable with the OECD average. However, in the long-term comparison, the results appear to have statistically worsened in the Czech Republic. The PISA score of other European countries with similar economies in terms of GDP and common historical-cultural development, namely Estonia, Poland, and Slovenia, was higher or even significantly higher. The search for the causes of this leads, among other things, to the study of the mathematics curricula of these states. Our paper gives a brief overview of the education systems of the selected countries, while also conducting a qualitative comparative analysis of relevant curriculum documents for lower secondary education. We place emphasis on the differences between the Czech curriculum and the curricula of the other countries. This is explored with the overall aim of formulating educational objectives pertaining to mathematics learning, the subject matter and its division, and required learning outcomes. In the last chapter we present the most significant differences (the lowest number of mathematics lessons, the absence of general mathematical goals and competencies, the lack of emphasis on home preparation of pupils, the absence of unified testing and insufficiently detailed learning content and outcomes), which could be an inspiration for improving the Czech mathematics curriculum.

Physics at Lower Secondary Schools: Comparison between the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland and Slovenia

Results of the worldwide PISA study in science performance from past years (2009, 2012 and 2015) show that Czech pupils are placed in the OECD average, whereas some countries with similar cultural and historical background are statistically significantly above it as well as above the results of the Czech Republic. As an example, Estonia, Poland and Slovenia belong to these countries and therefore they were chosen for the presented comparative study. The study focuses on comparison of national curricula of these countries,especially on fundamental aspects important for physics education at lower secondary schools. The study highlights the comparison of teaching content and learning outcomes in physics, interdisciplinary education and cross-curricula subjects, educational methods and assessment and field-specific key competences. One of the most evident differences that this study has detected is in the level of autonomy that the curricular documents give schools in deciding what the learning process will look like. This result as well as other findings will be discussed in the paper.

Fantázia az oktatás gazdaságtanában

In the field of competences measured by PISA surveys, Hungarian students are lagging behind OECD countries. The recent reforms have not yet shown their expected impact. Professionals and laymen usually explain the disappointing results by the fact that education is an underfunded sector. The study depicts what would happen if we doubled the current amount so that the funding of Hungarian education could well exceed the OECD average. It is an eternal question whether all that count is money. Because in our imaginary scenario, in a short period of time modern, clean, new buildings would replace the old, sometimes musty school buildings; we would find the latest multicore computers instead of the 10+ years old IT systems; and the traditional chalk boards would be replaced by interactive boards. The fact that there is a negative relationship between school computer usage and student performance improvements has already been demonstrated in the 2009 PISA study. However, the key to education is the pedagogue. Without training the right professionals, without their appreciation or motivation, the additional expenditures invested in education are meaningless.

Supporting Dynamic Economic Adjustment

Executive SummaryEconomic policymaking in the UK has historically focussed more on the demand side than on the supply side of the economy. Yet it is on the supply side – the way in which an economy adapts to change while growing productive capacity on a sustainable basis – that medium- to long-term economic performance largely depends. There is an urgent need now to rebalance policy by focussing, in particular, on measures to enhance labour-force productivity, including radically enhanced support for training and skills development.This does not involve wholesale structural reform of the economic framework. The UK benefits from having one of the most flexible economies in the OECD, with competitive product markets, relatively low labour costs and historically high employment levels, accompanied by a so-far-successful adoption of an escalating minimum wage. We suggest that in the post-Brexit era politicians would do well to avoid changes in the regulatory regime that would create undue misalignments with EU standards. Nevertheless, the concomitants of the UK's form of flexibility are a dismal performance on productivity and stagnating living standards. Productivity is now actually falling quarter on quarter ten years after the last economic downturn – a position unprecedented in the past 250 years. This problem must be addressed if the UK is to progress towards fulfilling its economic potential.Central to this are both so-called Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs) to provide people who have become unemployed with new skills that help them remain in the workforce, and investments in effective upskilling of mid-career and older workers. ALMPs can help raise average per capita income over time, yet UK spending on this area is well under half the OECD average and a fraction of the sums spent in the more successful Nordic economies, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Australia. The UK's many attempts to develop new training and apprenticeship schemes in recent decades have been dogged by poor quality and a lack of support from employers and labour unions. This needs to change: we propose a concerted effort to raise UK spending on ALMPs to the OECD average, especially for 16–24 year-olds. Improving labour-force mobility – for example by radically improving availability of affordable housing – is also critical. Structural reforms of this kind will require sustained political effort and support.

PMS22 ANNUAL COST OF PATIENTS UNDERGOING A TOTAL KNEE REPLACEMENT IN FRANCE

Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most common joint diseases in the world. The rate of total knee replacement (TKR) has more than doubled over the last fifteen years in France (166.8 TKRs per 100,000 population in 2016) despite the most recent guidelines that recommend TKR as the last option if all other treatments have failed. The two aims of this study were to determine the costs for French patients undergoing TKR due to knee osteoarthritis and to estimate the potential cost savings from the point of view of the French social health insurer if the number of total knee replacements were reduced. The 2018 national hospital database (PMSI) was used to establish annual costs of patients undergoing TKR due to knee osteoarthritis in France. We carried out a one-year budget impact analysis to determine the savings incurred if TKRs were reduced by 8% based on lowering the rate of surgeries to match the OECD average. Alternative intervention to surgery was a combination of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments and the costs for the alternative interventions were estimated using French tariffs (€, 2018). In 2018, 96,467 French patients had a TKR due to knee osteoarthritis. Their mean age was 70.6 years and 60% were females. The average cost of a TKR was €6,555 per patient and total annual cost was €632,314,517. Cost savings accounted for €48 million when the number of TKRs performed were reduced. This analysis provides real world data on the potential cost savings if total knee replacements are decreased in France. Given the available evidence on the minimal QALY losses that occur when restricting TKRs, a better allocation of resources could liberate funds for more cost-effective interventions.

The Legislative Tasks to Introduce the Act to Prevent Overwork-related Death

2018년 기준, OECD의 평균 연간 근로시간에 따르면, 우리나라의 연간 근로시간은 2,005시간으로 OECD 회원국 중 멕시코에 이어 두 번째에 해당하며, OECD 평균 1,734시간 보다 271시간이 더 긴 것으로 나타났다. 한편, 장시간 노동관행 개선을 위해 개정된「근로기준법」이 시행됐음에도 불구하고 장시간 노동은 여전히 과로사의 위험에 노출되어 있다. 그러나 장시간 노동을 예방하고 개선하기 위한 법·제도적 장치가 미흡한 상태이다. 또한‘과로사 등’에 관한 개념이 아직까지 정립되어 있지 않다. 특히, 장시간 노동으로 인해 과로사가 발생하는 경우, 산업재해로 인정받기 위한 기준이 너무 엄격하거나 근로시간을 중심으로 이루어지고 있다는 점이다. 따라서 과로사방지대책을 도입하기 위한 입법과제로서 세 가지를 제시할 수 있다. 첫째, 과로사방지대책을 위한 법적근거를 마련하는 것으로 개별법을 제정하거나 현행법을 개정하는 방식, 정부의 지침 등을 마련하는 방식이 있다. 둘째,‘과로사 등’의 개념은 뇌혈관질환, 심장질환, 정신질환을 원인으로 근로자가 사망, 자살, 질병, 장애가 발생한 경우로 정의하는 것이다. 셋째, 과로사 등 방지대책 도입시 과로사 등 질병의 범위는 신경정신계 질병(정신장애)까지 포함될 필요가 있으며, 인정기준은 일본처럼 주 단위가 아닌 월 단위로 산정하는 것이 바람직할 것으로 보인다.As of 2018, the OECD s average annual working hours stood at 2,005 hours, the second-highest among OECD members after Mexico and 271 hours longer than the OECD average of 1,734 hours, according to the OECD report. Meanwhile, despite the implementation of the revised Labor Standards Act to improve long-time labor practices, the long-time work is still exposed to the risk of overwork. However, there is a lack of legal and institutional mechanisms to prevent and improve long-term work. In addition, the concept of overwork-related death, etc. has not yet been established. In particular, if overwork occurs due to long hours of work, the criteria for obtaining recognition as an industrial accident are either too strict or centered on working hours. Therefore, three things may be proposed as legislative tasks to introduce the measures to prevent overwork-related death. First, there is a way to prepare a legal basis for overwork prevention measures, such as enacting individual laws or revising existing laws, and preparing guidelines for the government. Second, the concept of ‘overwork-related death’is defined as the occurrence of a worker s death, suicide, illness or disability due to cerebrovascular disease, heart disease, and mental illness. Third, when introducing preventive measures such as overwork, the scope of diseases such as overwork shall be included to the extent of neuropsychological diseases (psychological disorders), and it would be desirable to calculate the recognition criteria on a monthly basis rather than on a weekly basis as Japan.

Meaningful student involvement. Students as “researchers”: a physics laboratory experience from space to microworld

Teaching physics and technology is a challenging, rewarding and exciting arena where teachers share the fascinating concepts of physics and technology evolution in a room full of young and inquisitive minds. Every day teaching experience confirms that Science learning motivation is correlated to real world applications. According to the last PISA-OECD survey, the performance of Italian students in STEM is below the OECD average. In the last years the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research (MIUR) has been active in promoting a wide plan to improve STEM learning. These actions strongly supported the connections and collaborations between high schools, universities and research centers. In this framework, the Frascati National Laboratories (LNF) play a very important role in science dissemination through a rich program of physics education activities addressed to Italian teachers and students from all the world. The main idea is that meaningful involvement of students can take the form of engaging students as researchers. In this article the LNF activities for schools are presented with a focus on a case study of a work-related learning program attended by seventeen students of the high school “Liceo Siciliani” from Catanzaro (Italy) in February/March 2017. The students had the possibility to participate in two different experiences related to particle physics and nanotechnology. The project concerning particle physics will have a follow up, since the school “Liceo Siciliani” proposed an experiment on cosmic rays that will take place in the Calabria region, based on the experimental setup the students studied and used at LNF.

Light pollution – an interesting context for teaching and learning optics

Physics as a school subject is in general very unpopular. This fact is especially true for the situation in Austria. PISA results show that motivation, interest and self-efficacy of Austrian highschool students are significantly lower than the OECD average. In addition, a significant gender-gap in disadvantage for girls was shown. In general, one reason for low interest which was identified by previous research is that physics instruction is frequently decontextualized and students can hardly see any relevance of understanding physics for their lives. On the contrary, science and technology play a crucial and increasingly important role in our lives and in our globalized society. At the same time, edutainment focusing on science topics is booming. Interest studies like the ROSE-study may give reasons for this discrepancy: the choice of contexts does often not meet students’ interests. This contribution reports the development of a context-oriented learning environment on light pollution to stimulate learning processes and at the same time interest in introductory optics.

Raziskovalno-razvojna vlaganja kot osnova za tehnološki razvoj v Sloveniji

Članek obravnava raziskovalno-razvojno dejavnost (RR) kot enega izmed osnovnih dejavnikov, ki pospešujejo inovativnost, tehnološki razvoj ter posredno gospodarsko rast in konkurenčnost posameznih ekonomij in podjetij. Mednarodne primerjave na makroekonomski ravni v preteklih 17 letih kažejo počasno rast koeficienta med RR izdatki in ustvarjenim BDP. V najbolj razvitih državah se delež RR izdatkov približuje ali celo presega 3 % BDP. Slovenija sodi med države, ki v opazovanem obdobju ne dosegajo povprečja OECD, ki je leta 2016 znašalo 2,3 % BDP. Za Slovenijo smo ugotovili v letih 2013-2017 padajoči trend RR zaradi različnih razlogov (drugačno zajemanje RR, davčne olajšave, konjunkturna gibanja). V izrazito majhnem deležu usmerjenih uporabnih raziskav in eksperimentalnega razvoja lahko iščemo vzroke za tehnološke zaostanke v slovenskem gospodarstvu.
 Raziskovalna politika mora v prihodnje v večji meri: spodbujati interaktivno sodelovanje med podjetji, inštituti, univerzami ter državnimi institucijami; spremeniti strukturo javno financiranih raziskav v korist ciljno usmerjenih uporabnih raziskav; povečati internacionalizacijo z vključevanjem v mednarodne verige vrednosti; razvijati trg inovativnih javnih naročil. RR management v podjetjih mora pospešiti inovacijska prizadevanja ne le v visoko tehnoloških segmentih, temveč tudi na področju srednje in nizke tehnologije z večjo vlogo tveganega kapitala, bistvenim povečanjem števila raziskovalcev v podjetjih ter uporabo vavčerskega sistema za raziskovalne in svetovalne storitve, zlasti v malih in srednje velikih podjetjih.

Implications of Canada’s restrictive FDI policies on employment and productivity

The merits of foreign direct investment (FDI) have been well documented, thus explaining the openness of many countries to foreign capital. There is, however, some debate on the importance of FDI into key basic business services sectors such as financial services, air transportation services, and telecom services, which remain protected in many countries, including Canada. These restrictions, together with the presence of a review mechanism for foreign investment, has resulted in Canada being ranked above average in terms of restrictiveness by the OECD. We estimate that a leveling down of Canadian FDI restrictions to average OECD levels would raise Canadian labor productivity by a very large 0.79%. It would also either raise employment by 137,400 jobs or raise annual earnings for each Canadian worker by CA$648, or $9.6 billion economy-wide. These results therefore highlight the merits of FDI to local economies.

Designing Malaysia’s Tax Structure to Achieve Higher Income Country

After four decades of rapid, inclusive growth averaging 6.4% pa since 1970, due to successful transformation of the economy from agriculture to a modern and open economy, Malaysia needs to embark on painstaking reforms to launch its trajectory to a higher growth path. Malaysia has a lower tax burden when compared to most G8 and BRIC economies. It collects about 16.9% of GDP in tax revenues, compared with the OECD average of 34.3% in 2016 (OECD, 2015). Among the urgent reforms are taxes which need a restructuring from direct and commodity taxes with overdependence on oil and gas to a more diversified tax base. Its tax dependence on the oil and gas sectors for revenue reached a 41% high of GDP in 2009, before settling to 14% with the introduction of GST/SST. The long-run elasticity of tax burden is -0.25, which implies that GDP growth will be reduced by 0.25% for every 1% increase in tax burden, compared with -0.27 for OECD countries (Arnold, 2012). In general, taxes are negatively correlated with economic growth, even after taking into account the different types of taxes. The structure of taxation showed that GST is most sensitive to economic growth and has the highest impact. Among taxes, GST, PIT and CIT are negatively correlated to growth whereby for every 1% increase in taxes, economic growth will be reduced by 0.17%, 0.06% and 0.06% respectively. PROTAX and OTHTAX are positively related to GDP growth. Tax reforms are needed to broaden the overall tax base, resize the sources to uncover additional resources to fund needed programs for inclusive growth. Over the medium time-span, it is important that the government focus on strengthening its tax collection administration to cut off leakage and in reducing the number of tax exempt items, inevitably looking into indirect taxes and a broader tax base to contribute to a progressive income tax system in its tax reform agenda.

The discovery of the possible reasons for delayed graduation and dropout in the light of a qualitative research study

Higher educational dropout is a significant area of education policy in Hungary. First, the proportion of graduated higher educational students is low when compared to the OECD average, which may b...

The Impact of Secondary Environmental Variables on OECD Healthcare Efficiency: A Robust Conditional Approach

Abstract In this paper, I estimate country-level efficiency using a newer order-m estimator where I condition efficiency estimates on secondary environmental variables. This allows me to identify which variables influence the effectiveness of a healthcare delivery system. I find that not controlling for secondary environmental variables leads to the average OECD country being 11% inefficient; after controlling for demographics and economic (social protection) environmental variables, inefficiency reduces to 7% (5%). This provides evidence that a substantial part of the inefficiencies of a healthcare system is related to demographics, socioeconomics, and the structure of the healthcare delivery system. Using the second-stage results, I find lower healthcare spending, both as a percent of GDP and total out-of-pocket, as well as more of the population covered by public health insurance, is related to better efficiency. Lower fertility rates, lower immigration rates, higher incomes, and lower pharmaceutical doses are also consistent with better healthcare efficiency. Lastly, a healthcare system that provides a basic benefits package but allows for purchase of private health insurance, with moderate gatekeeping and flexibility to increase the budget for healthcare through public and private financing, are the most efficient healthcare systems.

Computed Tomography: Return on Investment and Regional Disparity Factor Analysis.

The number of computed tomography (CT) systems in operation in Japan is approximately 4.3 times higher than that of the OECD average. However, CT systems are expensive, and thus, a heavy financial burden for hospital management. We calculate the annual net profits from CT introduction in Japan for single-slice CT (SSCT), multi-slice CT (MSCT), number of hospital beds, and prefecture. We also analyze the factors that affect CT profitability. First, the annual income per CT in operation is estimated for 2011. Second, the annual costs per CT are calculated as the sum of depreciation, maintenance, and labor costs. Finally, the annual net profits per CT are estimated for SSCT and MSCT, the number of hospital beds, and prefecture. A correlation analysis between the annual net profits, population, and number of physicians per CT equipment is used to determine the determinants of the net CT profits by prefecture. Our results show that, for hospitals with fewer than 100 beds, the annual net CT profits are higher for SSCT than MSCT, and vice versa for hospitals with at least 100 beds. Both SSCT and MSCT increased profits as the number of hospital beds increased. The annual net CT profits per prefecture are USD −12,105 for SSCT and USD 87,233 for MSCT, on average. The annual net profits per prefecture and population per CT show positive correlations with both SSCT and MSCT, as do the annual net profits per prefecture and number of physicians per CT. Thus, choosing high-performance MSCT is advantageous in terms of profitability in facilities with at least 100 beds. Additionally, CT profitability presumably affects the balance between the number of introduced CTs, population per CT, and number of physicians per CT.

Will China Become a Global Technological Giant?

The article argues that China has achieved a remarkable progress in promoting technology absorption and innovation over the past decade. China today spends 2.1 percent of GDP on R&D, more than the OECD average. By 2020, China together with the US will be responsible for more than half of the world’s R&D spending. These two countries may thus largely de-cide about the speed and direction of mankind’s technological progress. Despite the pro-gress, however, China still faces several challenges to becoming a global technological giant. To face these challenges, China would be well advised to increase the quality of innovation outputs, strengthen efficiency of public support for innovation, further strengthen intel-lectual property rights, and help enhance managerial practices of Chinese firms.

How Big is China's Digital Economy?

This paper reviews international measures of the digital economy with those developed by Chinese officials and private sources. Given their lack of comparability, we use China’s input and output and census data to come up with an internationally comparable estimate of China’s size of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector (the core of digital economy), both in terms of value added and employment. Based on the latest available statistics, our measurements indicate that China’s digital economy is not bigger relative to the size of the Chinese economy than the OECD average, especially in terms of ICT employment. This finding, which might look striking based on the current perception of China’s digital economy, masks large differences across regions (with Beijing, Guangdong and Shanghai ahead of the OECD average).

Offshore Bet: The Benefits of Capital Mobility

Offshore financial centres (OFCs) are alleged to be hotbeds of tax evasion. Their role in facilitating individual and corporate tax planning, which is entirely legal but politically controversial, has also come under the spotlight. However, OFCs play an important economic function. By mitigating instances of double and triple taxation, offshore centres raise aggregate investment. Their existence is also associated with better economic outcomes in the countries that surround them. The recent growth in the number and size of OFCs can be explained by three developments: an increase in the stock of investable capital, new investment opportunities outside Western Europe and North America, and the growth of tax and regulatory intervention by governments. As more investment capital is allocated across a diverse range of jurisdictions from investors around the world, the potential for multiple taxation increases. The role of OFCs in eliminating excessive taxation has a positive impact on investment returns which compounds over time. There is no evidence that the rise of OFCs has adversely affected the revenue-raising ability of other countries. For example, corporate tax revenue as a share of all taxes collected has grown slightly in the average OECD country since 1980. Nor is it true that OFCs levy no taxes: their average tax revenue as a share of national income is only six percentage points lower than across the OECD. OFCs do, however, rely on indirect (e.g. consumption) taxes rather than direct (e.g. income) taxes for revenue. Indirect taxes are often less distortionary. The popular account of offshore centres is an outdated caricature that bears little resemblance to how OFCs in fact operate. Undermining their existence would harm investment, economic growth and international capital flows, while the promised benefits from intervention are unlikely to materialise.

COGNITIVE DEPTH OF TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS IN BIOLOGY FROM 7TH TILL 9TH GRADE

From OECD PISA Science test results presented in 2016 shows that in Latvia only 3,4% of students performance is in accordance to the 5th and 6th performance level (higher order cognitive skills (HOCS) measured), which is below OECD average. In Latvia from 2016 started Curriculum Development and Implementation project, which one of the priorities is student’s ability to apply HOCS (higher order cognitive skills) to improve these results. The development of deeper thinking (cognitive activity) is one of the most advanced skills in all subjects, including biology. In order to reduce the risks, it is necessary to analyze introducing new reforms the opportunities for students to develop HOCS through biology lessons and textbooks in current teaching and learning process. In previous researches it was found out that all items with context of 9th grade biology in the Latvia’s National level Science test (period 2015-2017) were measuring only low and average depth and no one was in high cognitive level as opposed to the PISA framework. It is required to study reasons of that more deeply. The research goal is to analyze cognitive depth of given tasks that students have the opportunity to do in the lessons of biology, biology textbooks from 7th till 9th grade and with 9th grade biology tasks in Latvia’s National level Science tests from years 2015 till 2017 and to compare these three cognitive depth results to the PISA 2015 Science framework. To find out cognitive depth of given tasks, there were analysed 31 samples of biology lessons and 6 biology textbooks for grades 7th till 9th.

Part-time Jobs: Opportunity or Obstacle? Case of the Moravian-Silesian Region

Abstract cBackground and Purpose: Part-time employment could be seen as a modern form of employment or a type of innovative organizational change. The average share of part-time jobs in the Czech Republic in the observed period of 2004-2016 was 3.9 % according to the OECD, in comparison to the average OECD value of 16.6%. The main question to arise was, are there any regional differences? The presented conclusions are based on a regional study in the Moravian-Silesian Region (MSR) in the Czech Republic where the median value of part- time jobs is 10%. The main goal is to evaluate the regional level of part-time job offers and identify the main opportunities and obstacles which cause the low number of these job positions. Design/Methodology/Approach: The paper is based on a quantitative study using a questionnaire-based survey, comprising 215 respondents - owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Moravian-Silesian Region in the Czech Republic. The survey consists of 16 questions in three main areas: (i) Entrepreneurial motivation (1 item), (ii) External factors - Labour market problems (4 items), and (iii) Internal factors. Secondary information such as the results of earlier studies and regional government websites were used for data results comparison. All variables are compared in the context of the branch of business, number of employees, turnover, and age. Finally, a factor analysis was used to find the main way how to improve part-time job offers. Results: The variety of businesses and different regional locations opens up space for discussion regarding parttime job support. A factor analysis found five significant issues, which could affect local labour market and company behaviour. Conclusion: The added value of the paper can be seen in the factor identification, where internal willingness to support part-time employment and qualification growth as organizational change must be in first place.

Causes and Characteristics of Population Aging

Korea’s level of population aging remains lower than the OECD average. However, the pace of population aging in Korea is faster than that of many other member countries, as its total fertility rate is the lowest among OECD countries while its life expectancy exceeds the OECD average. Using panel data from OECD member countries, this paper divides the common causes of population aging in OECD countries into declining fertility rate and increasing life expectancy, and analyzes these causes of aging mainly in terms of factors influencing the declining fertility rate. According to the results of the analysis, declines in fertility rate are attributable mainly to socioeconomic factors, including wedding and childcare expenses and labor market conditions that limit the division of housework, and sociocultural factors, such as changes in education levels and gender equality values. Increases in life expectancy are found to be positively correlated to welfare policies and income levels. This paper also compares descriptively the characteristics of population aging in Korea with those in major countries. As Korea industrialized rapidly, the aging of its population has progressed rapidly as well. The factors driving this rapid aging include: historical characteristics, such as the decline in potential fertility, caused in part by Korea’s birth control policy; sociocultural characteristics, such as the decline in the fertility rate due to high wedding and childcare expenses, emergence of an environment in which it is difficult to achieve work-family balance, and gender inequality in the division of housework; and demographic characteristics, such as the surge in the proportion of elderly people as the baby boomers age. To cope with this aging, policies are urgently needed to help ease the burdens of wedding and childcare expenses, for example by stabilizing the housing market and, reducing private education expenses, and create working conditions that ensure work-family balance and gender equality in the division of housework. More fundamentally, it is necessary to establish social consensus on the need for a gender-equal society and develop legal and institutional frameworks that will help make such a society a reality. We must also seek comprehensive measures to address poverty among the elderly, caused by the fast pace of aging, and to support the post-retirement pension and welfare systems.