Japan's seniors rely more on each other for long-term care

 28-Jun-17, Nikkei Asian Review

More Japanese senior citizens are receiving nursing care from other seniors who often need such care themselves, a burdensome consequence of the country's aging population and declining cross-generational cohabitation.

Image: Nikkei Asian Review

The proportion of households in which those 65 and older receive long-term care from co-residents in the same age bracket reached an all-time high of 54.7% in 2016, a 3.5 percentage-point increase from 2013, according to the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. The proportion reached 30.2% for households in which both parties are 75 or older, breaching 30% for the first time.

Such situations take a heavy emotional and physical toll on the caregiver, for whom care is also important. The trend suggests growing prominence for Japan's problem of cultivating support services.

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