Abstract
The purpose of this 11-year study is to clarify the anxieties and the needs of middle-aged women toward their old age in the rural area. The data were based on the panel studies conducted in 1982 and 1993 respectively in Asahina-district of Okabe-cho, a mountain village in Shizuoka Prefecture. Forty hundred and thirty-nine married women between 30 and 59 years of age were interviewed in the first survey, and of the 439, 324 were interviewed in the second survey.
The findings are summarized as follows :
1) During the period 1982-1993, in spite of their aging, all cohorts were free from such traditional attitudes as living with the first son's family and being taken care of by the daughter-in-law when they became frail.
2) In 1993 the 51-60 age cohort were free from the traditional attitudes in four items and the 61-70 age cohort were free from the traditional attitudes in five items. On the contrary, the 41-50 age cohort were free from the traditional attitudes in eight items.
3) In 1993 all cohorts strongly kept traditional attitudes in two items, that is, to co-reside with their married child when they become widowed, and to be taken care of by their married child when become too frail to live by themselves.
4) Especially noteworthy is the fact that all cohorts were free from traditional attitudes of sharing living expenses. In other words, they managed their own living expenses separate from the account of their married child.
