Du cubisme en traduction

In the World

Studies have established that lower SES is associated with increased levels of illness and mortality. For elderly individuals, advanced age is characterized by a withdrawal from permanent employment and a reduction in working hours. The outcome is typically a huge drop in income. Globally, older people today are significantly less likely to participate in the labor force than they were in the past. As the data from the United Nations³ have shown, labor force participation of people age  65 years declined by more than 40% at the global level from 1950–2000. Among men, labor force participation decreased from 55% in 1950 to 30% in 2000, while in women, the reduction was from 14% in 1950 to 10% in 2000. In addition, the female share of

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the older work force is increasing, particularly in more developed countries. In general, education levels have improved in each generation over the last century, and the widespread attainment of at least primary education has been established in more developed regions. As a result, literacy among the older population is nearly universal in more developed regions; however, illiteracy remains high among older people in less developed regions, particularly among women.

The Gini coefficient is commonly used as an international measure of inequality of income distribution, in which 0 corresponds to perfect equality and 1 to perfect inequality. The Gini coefficient has risen significantly since the mid-1980s in OECD countries. In 2008, the average Gini coefficient was 0.309 for people age 18–65 years and 0.288 for people ≥ 65 years (Figure 1.8). The degree of income inequality for the 18- to 65-year-old group was greater than that for the ≥ 65-year-old group at the average level, indicating that income inequality decreases in old age as a result of retirement and associated pension and other income security benefits. However, some countries showed different characteristics, such as the United States, Japan, and France. Figure 1.9 shows another international inequality indicator, relative poverty rate (%), which is the percentage of people with an income  50% of the median income in OECD countries. Japan has one of the highest Gini coefficients among OECD countries, with all poverty rates being much higher than the average level of OECD in all age groups.

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Aged ≥ 65 years Aged 18-65 years

Figure 1.8: Gini coefficient of OECD countries. (Source: OECD, 2008⁷⁰.)

0.0

Total population Age 65+ Aged 66-75 Aged 75+

Figure 1.9: Relative poverty rates (%) of OECD countries. (Source: OECD Income Distribution and Poverty Database, 2008⁷⁰.)

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In Japan

In Japan, accelerated economic growth and technological advancement have enhanced health and life expectancy, particularly after the Second World War. It seems that Japan’s health expenditure and health and welfare system organization, along with specific social and cultural particularities, translate into reduced socioeconomic differences in health outcomes. However, increases in social and health inequalities have been recently reported in Japan, which may be partially due to population aging⁷¹.

The average gross household income and the average gross income per household member by the age bracket of the household head are shown in Figure 1.10. In 2006, the total average income per household and average income per household member were 5.67 million yen and 2.07 million yen, respectively. The average household income of all other households is higher than that of households headed by someone ≥ 65 years old (4.32 million yen), except those headed by individuals ≤ 29 years old.

The income distribution of people ≥ 65 years old is different than those in other age groups. Figure 1.11 shows how income is distributed for all households and aged households. Overall, 78.7% of households headed by individuals age ≥ 65 years earned an annual income of < 4 million yen in 2006. The average income of all households is evenly distributed over a range of 1 million to 8 million yen; however, the distribution of aged households becomes increasingly skewed to the lower income brackets. In 2010, the average annual income of households headed by elderly people was 4.29 million yen, which is much lower than the average 5.24 million yen income of all households.

Reflecting this reality, the Gini coefficient for households headed by people  65 years old is approximately 0.34, which is higher than the Gini coefficient of 0.31 for households headed by individuals age 18–65 years (Figure 1.8).

In Japan, the average amount of schooling completed is 12.3 years per person, more than 90% of the population attends high school, and approximately 40% of all upper-secondary school graduates advance to tertiary education. The education level in Japan has tended to increase over time: for example, among OECD countries, Japan is ranked in the tenth position among 55- to 64-year-olds (those who completed their education some 40 years ago) and in the third position among 25- to 34-year-olds (those who completed their education a decade ago) ⁷³. Due to the extremely high popularity of

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higher education, particularly in the last few decades, the range of levels of education attained has become larger, which has increased social inequalities in Japan. However, many aging Japanese enroll in various education facilities, and this factor could also influence SES, although studies on this topic have not yet been performed⁷⁴.

317.2 group of household head, 2006. (Source: Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 2006⁷².)

0.0

Figure 1.11: Distribution of income by all households and aged households. (Source:

Source: Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, 2006⁷².)

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