Poverty of Elderly People in Japan: Empirical Analysis of the Effect of Work Experience and Marital Status on Earnings, Income and Wealth of Elderly People
The anxiety of life in old age is increasing in Japan as an aging country in the world. Previous studies indicate that the life in old age is affected by previous work experience and marital status. For example, public pensions, which occupy most of retirement income, depend on previous work experience. Marital status is also an important factor deciding the life in old age, especially females. This study clarifies the effects of working experience and marital status on earnings, income, and wealth of elderly people. From our analysis results using Japan/Keio Household Panel Survey (JHPS/KHPS), we found that the poverty risk is significantly high in the case of long work experience as a nonregular employee and self-employee, and the case of never-married. As suggested by foreign-related studies, it was clarified that the problem of public pension system which gives favorable treatment to specific people like regular employees. Especially, because of the increase of nonregular employees and never-married people in Japan, it is crucial to guarantee the life of these people to solve the poverty problem for elderly people.
