“Aging Greater China” from the Perspective of Issue-Developed Country

— New Developments in Social Security Regimes in East Asia —

Abstract

After rapid economic growth, any society is faced with a series of structural challenges. Aging and population decline are the biggest issues in East Asia today. After losing World War II, Japan achieved rapid economic growth. In 1970, Japan entered an “aging society” (7% of the population aged 65 years old), and the aging rate continues to rise sharply thereafter. With the total population reaching a peak of 128.08 million in 2008, the aging and declining population will be the trend for the next 100 years. A similar trend can also be seen in other Asian regions, which have achieved growth following Japan.

In this paper, we examined the commonalities and differences in the issues of the aging society experienced by Japan in comparison with the so-called "Greater China", such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, mainland China, and overseas Chinese.

As a result, unlike the welfare regime in Europe and the United States, in which social resources and costs are redistributed by the government centered on citizens' rights, a new social security system that responds to the impact of drastic changes in "population" due to urban demographics and family metamorphosis. The need for a regime became clear.