Abstract
The main purpose of our study is to examine the relationship between the degree of income inequality and the ageing population by taking into consideration the macro-level economic climate since the mid-1980s. Our study consists of three parts. First. we explore whether the change in the degree of income inequality is large enough to support the claim that the degree of income inequality has increased. Second. we decompose the change in the degree of income inequality into the three main factors which are the one due to demographic transformation, ageing population, and the one within age groups, and the one between age groups, and see which factors are the most important to explain the change in the degree in income inequality. Third. we examine the determinants of household heads. attitudes toward their living conditions. The data used in this study are derived from the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions of the People on Health and Welfare (Kokumin Seikatsu Kiso Chosa) conducted by the Ministry of Health. Labor and Welfare in 1986, 1995, and 2004.
Through our analyses. we confirmed that the degree of income inequality has actually increased since the mid-1980s. The increase in the degree of income inequality can be mainly explained by the demographic transformation that has occurred since the mid-1980s. However. the extent of increase in the degree of income inequality has not largely changed since the 1990s. while household heads are more likely to claim hardship in their living condition. It appears that people are more sensitive to disparity these days than they had been before. particularly among households where the head is aged in his/her 40s and 50s.
