Problematic Issues Concerning Social Investment Strategy in Elderly Care : Implications from the Case of Japan's Long-Term Care Policy(<Special Issue>Work-family life and social investment in care for children and elderly : Denmark and Japan)

Abstract

This article, focusing on elderly care and taking Japan's experience of LTC policy into consideration, suggests several issues that need to be explored in order to further develop the conceptual framework for social investment. Rough outlines of the performance of LTC in OECD countries, including Denmark and Japan, are given. This is followed by a short historical description of Japan's LTC policy. Then, some problematic issues, which it is necessary to deal with in order to integrate social investment perspectives into elderly care policy, are raised. In addition to pointing out further room to develop explanatory models for variations and changes in social investment strategies, three problematic issues are examined. The first regards indicators for social investment, the second is associated with the different interpretations and meanings attached to the concept of social investment, and the last concerns incorporating the conditions of care work into the analytical and theoretical framework for social investment strategies.