Japan's Future as a Super Aging Society: International comparison of JSTAR datasets

The Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI) has been conducting a comprehensive survey of elderly people based on an international standard--the Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR)--since 2007. This panel data survey is designed to ensure comparability with preceding large-scale panel data surveys conducted in the United States and Europe and is also part of an international project continuously researching the diverse information available on the economic, health, family, and social conditions of Japanese elderly from a interdisciplinary perspective. With the Japanese population aging rapidly, what kind of social security system should be adopted? Properly capturing globally comparable microdata of the lives of elderly people is crucial for better policymaking, and the data will be utilized as a valuable input for the future.

This symposium will bring together the world's leading researchers conducting these surveys in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, China, and other countries along with researchers from RIETI, with a view toward presenting the true picture of the elderly captured in these datasets and how they are utilized in actual policymaking. Also, we will look into the nature of the JSTAR results for the actual conditions of the Japanese elderly and discuss the implications for social security reform.