Japans Elderly Women Turn to Prison for Stability amid Struggles
In the News
You would think in Japan , being one of the most advanced technological countries in the world , the elderly would be well looked after
Apparently not , 20% of them are living in poverty
Part of the problem is they live very long lives there , especially the women and as they age some find they cannot support themselves
If they do not have family to help them they commit petty crimes like shoplifting so they will be imprisoned
There they are looked after, kept warm, fed and have medical care for free
The big difference between the prisons in Japan and those in the UK is that in Japan the prisoners have to work in factories , despite some being over 80 years of age
But they prefer to do this than be left in poverty on the streets
In this case longevity is part of the problem, unlike in the UK where they are more likely to be drug addicts or prolific thieves who just want an easy life inside and don't have to lift a finger to get what they have to work for in Japanese prisons
It's all very sad , living a healthy lifestyle to reach a good age and not being able support yourself
edition.cnn.com/2025/01/18/asia/japan-elderly-largest-womens-prison-intl-hnk-dst/index.html

Interesting topic after reading have no question to be honest I really like your topic thanks a lot

Japan seems to have a very common sense approach to everything. They do have an extreme level of debt though but they are also asset rich. Yes Japan is a very safe country to live but there are loads of people that are quite poor with low disposable incomes and they still have a death penalty. Many people live in tiny homes despite them having a lower population density than England nowadays. However I think that is because they still have a huge amount of farming and try to be more self-sufficient in food supply. They have a lot of migrant workers for factories but they don't pay them as much as Japanese workers. In this way they can still be semi-competitive in manufacturing.

BonzoBanana They seem to have the same problem we have with the elderly here in the UK also B

I'm surprised at this, I always thought Japan's old people was respected and where well looked after, obviously not........

martinlufc5637 My thoughts too M, i know they are more family orientated than we are but i didn't know this about the elderly

It's a common theme and not just in Japan. There was a guy local to me. Every Christmas he'd commit some low level crime just so he'd get locked up over the festive period. He didn't get on with family. He said it was better then being out

Jerseydrew This person is a complete nuisance costing the taxpayers unnecessarily costs. Why won't the police refer him to some of these so-called short-term shelters or flatly refuse to arrest him?

It's a sad situation J, especially where the old are treated better inside a prison than supported at home

I agree with all the comments regarding Japan and the elderly women with no families to turn to. But I am shocked to read about them used as forced labour. This is not right.

When I went to Japan a couple of years ago I met up with different Japanese people. They all told me the problem with ageing is 3 fold. Firstly, as you said, people live longer over there generally. Secondly the younger generations are not having children as much so this means that there isn't enough people to do the caring jobs. Thirdly because of the strict foreign worker policy there is a gap where these jobs just aren't being taken up.

Reminds me of the old Debtors prisons in Medieval London. I believe Charles Dicken's mum was in one.
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