Aging population in Japan Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Aging population in Japan - Research Paper Example Despite the challenges, the aging population seems to create new opportunities because people will have longer healthier lives hence extended working years besides different capacities and needs (Lutz 34). The key to survival depends on adaptation on individual, organisational and societal levels. Japan is facing the population-aging crisis now. It is a resource-poor island hence changes in population size and structure tends to present a serious problem. Japan faced a problem of a large not-working population until the 1950s. From 1600-1868, the Edo period, Japan opted to hold down its population through extremely desperate means such as infanticide as well as negligence of the old people (Coulmas 5). Towards late 19 century, the population rose and it was unlikely that japan would ever face a shortage of births. However, that is what Japan is experiencing and has experienced over a couple of past decades. Over the last half century, death rates have reduced and the life span has increased by about 30 years. For women, life expectancy is currently at 82 whereas for men it is 76 (Uhlenberg 134). The number of those aged 65 and above was 14% of the population in 1994 and by the 2010; Japan was among the leading in the world in this measure. In Japan, people in their seventies and eighties are prevalent and even centenarians have increased in number. The difference in population structure is due to factors such as fertility and mortality(Coulmas 25).Women in Japan are no longer in a hurry to get married like in previous generations and when they marry, they sire fewer children. In Japan, unmarried women rarely have babies hence the slow rate of marriages contributes to the decreased young population. Women in japan have also opted on continuing with their education to get better job opportunities compared to those of earlier years. In addition, unmarried men are more than unmarried women hence