Welfare Policies for Eldercare and the System of Caregivers Migration to Japan

Abstract

This study aims to elucidate the development and changes in welfare policies for the elderly in Japan. More specifically, this paper focused on the recent development of welfare policies and the preparation of Japan to face aging challenges. Japan is the leading country in the World in terms of rapid aging. The rapidly growing elderly population is primarily due to the low birth rate and health insurance system that covers all its citizens to provide advanced healthcare facilities. Japan's birth rate has declined more rapidly over the last twenty years than European countries and America. The Japanese government introduced policies related to eldercare, such as Gold Plan, New Gold Plan, Orange Plan, New Orange Plan, and Long-Term Care Insurance. The increasing elderly population raised the issue of welfare and led to a growing demand for personnel in the health caregiving sector of Japan. Therefore, the government of Japan does a bilateral Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) for recruiting professional health caregivers through a recruitment agreement between Japan and selected Southeast Asian countries. This paper analyzed the recent development in welfare policies for eldercare and the migration of nurses and caregivers to Japan under the EPA system. This study used data from the Japan International Corporation of Welfare Services (JICWELS) and the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare.