According to data released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in September 2023, the proportion of people over 65 years old in Japan accounted for 29 percent of the total population1%, ranking first in the world. According to the relevant agency**, when the second peak of childbearing, that is, from 1971 to 1974, the generation exceeds the age of 65, the number of elderly people in Japan will grow to 39.28 million, accounting for nearly 35% of the total population. While the "declining birthrate and aging population" have become an acute problem in society, how to develop the silver economy in light of the actual national conditions has become a key topic of concern in Japanese society.
For Japanese society, the silver economy has moved beyond the traditional concept of focusing on products for the elderly, and has continued to expand its scope, making progress in not only health care and welfare services, but also technological innovation, leisure and entertainment, housing renovation, and even financial services for the elderly. In addition, how to ensure that the elderly participate in social construction and continue to create economic value is also an important concern of the silver economy.
From the perspective of the national system, Japan issued the "Population Aging Pension Business", etc., as a reference for policy formulation and enterprises to carry out investment and construction in the field of pension. Since the 90s of the 20th century, Japan** has provided necessary health and welfare services for the elderly in the form of home care, institutional care, health care services, etc., through the "healthy aging" project, including through regular health check-ups and preventive medical advice, the development of fitness and exercise plans suitable for the elderly, the provision of nutritional guidance and dietary management services, and the encouragement of the elderly to participate in community activities to maintain mental health, etc., in order to protect the comprehensive rights and interests of the elderly.
From the perspective of nursing care and insurance systems, Japan's social security systems such as national health insurance, pension insurance, medical insurance, and long-term care insurance provide financial guarantees for the elderly to receive social services. Since 2000, Japan has promoted a long-term care insurance system that provides nursing care services in home care, day care, and short-term residential care facilities, and is financed by social insurance and taxes to ensure that the burden on the elderly is reduced. In 2012, Japan officially implemented the "Long-term Care Insurance Law", and promoted the development of a community-based medical care cooperation system in various localities.
From the perspective of tax incentives and subsidies, the "smart silver economy" has become an important development prospect for the elderly. In the process of continuous development of AI technology, Japanese companies are paying more attention to R&D and investment in the fields of elderly care assistance robots, network services, VR technology, and monitoring equipment. For this reason, Japan has strengthened the tax reduction and exemption policies for the elderly products and services industry, especially the smart pension service industry, such as start-ups in the development of smart home devices such as night lights and emergency call facilities used by the elderly, they can apply for research and development subsidy funds. In addition, in view of the fact that the elderly have more time and financial resources, Japanese companies have begun to provide travel schedules and financial products suitable for the elderly, such as slow-paced travel routes, tourism models such as "vacation + recuperation", or explore consulting services for senior investment projects such as pension planning.
Promoting the elderly to work longer has also become an important measure to promote the silver economy. Since the 80s of the 20th century, Japan has revised the laws and regulations on delaying the retirement age several times, and in April 2021, the revised "Employment Stability Law for the Elderly" was officially implemented, requiring companies to continue to provide employment opportunities for elderly employees who want to work until the age of 70, and also set up "continued employment subsidies" and other related subsidies and incentives to support enterprises to hire or retain elderly employees. On this basis, Japan** is also studying and discussing the creation of a social environment that is suitable for the elderly and ultimately realizes a "lifelong retirement-free" social environment. At present, elderly people can be seen in the taxi industry and apartment management industry in Japan. Japanese companies believe that older people have more work experience and social experience, which can have a positive impact on their companies.
At the same time, however, Japan's silver economy is facing many practical challenges. First of all, in the process of declining birthrate and aging, the shortage of labor in the field of nursing and medical care will cause some obstacles to the implementation of Japan's pension service policy. In addition, in the social environment of "no retirement", how to protect the rights and interests of the elderly to enjoy their old age and avoid "forced labor" has also become a major issue.
Secondly, the increasing number and proportion of the elderly population will intensify the pressure on fiscal expenditure of Japan's ** and public medical institutions, and due to the relatively weak consumption power of the elderly, the motivation of the silver economy to give back to the society is still insufficient.
In addition, the continuous progress of the technology of pension services, and the ability of the elderly to accept new things There is a certain contradiction, how to let the elderly really keep up with the development prospects of the intelligent silver economy, and effectively enjoy the effect of new technology investment and policies such as artificial intelligence and robot auxiliary equipment.
Finally, in view of the fact that the elderly have become one of the "main victim groups" in Japanese fraud cases, in the process of providing tourism, finance and other products and services for the elderly by enterprises and society, how to avoid the elderly from being deceived due to lack of awareness of prevention is also a problem that Japan must face. (Economic ** reporter Chen Yitong).