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Comparing Public Attitudes Towards Providing for the Livelihood of the Elderly in Two aging Sodieties: Germany and Japan

Author

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  • Bernd Hayo

    (Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Philipps Universitaet Marburg)

  • Hiroyuki Ono

    (Faculty of Economics, Toyo Universtiy)

Abstract

This paper studies attitudes about who should provide for the livelihood of the elderly in two aging societies, namely Germany and Japan. Applying an ordered logit model to individual data from representative public opinion surveys, it is analysed which socio-demographic, economic or political variables help to explain people’s attitudes on whether the government or individuals should be responsible for the livelihood of the elderly. We find that while higher income makes people more inclined towards the individual option, age is found to do the opposite in both countries. We conjecture that this age effect is related to the level of knowledge about the current situation of the public pension system. We also find that the part-time work status significantly affects attitudes in both countries, but not the same way. It affects adversely the inclination towards a government-based pension system in the case of Japan but positively in Germany. Other significant influences are the pensioner status of the respondents in Japan and their political position in the case of German data.

Suggested Citation

  • Bernd Hayo & Hiroyuki Ono, 2007. "Comparing Public Attitudes Towards Providing for the Livelihood of the Elderly in Two aging Sodieties: Germany and Japan," Marburg Working Papers on Economics 200703, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    • Handle: RePEc:mar:volksw:200703
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Hayo, Bernd & Ono, Hiroyuki, 2011. "Livelihood and care of the elderly: Determinants of public attitudes in Japan," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 76-98, March.
    2. Ryosuke Okazawa & Katsuya Takii, 2019. "Intergenerational Conflict Over Consumption Tax Hike: Evidence from Japan," OSIPP Discussion Paper 19E009, Osaka School of International Public Policy, Osaka University.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Livelihood of elderly; pension reform; public attitudes; aging societies; Germany; Japan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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