Growing Older in World Cities: New York, London, Paris, and Tokyo

17. Aging, Socioeconomic Status, and Neighborhood Differences in Tokyo

304 17. Aging, Socioeconomic Status, and Neighborhood Differences inTokyo Yukiko Kudo Introduction What is it like to grow old in Tokyo? How different is it from growing old in New York, Paris, or London? Is it different from growing old in other parts of Japan? To answer these questions, it is important to start by comparing the demographic, socioeconomic, and health status of the older persons in Japan, Tokyo Prefecture, and Central Tokyo’s twenty-three wards. Next, I compare the differences in people’s characteristics among the neighborhoods in the twenty-three wards, and finally, the socioeconomic status and living arrangements of older persons living in Inner and Outer Tokyo. Tokyo is still young compared to the nation as a whole (Table 17.1). In 1985, only 8.9 percent of the population was sixty-five and over in Tokyo and only 9.5 percent in the twenty-three wards, as compared to 10.3 percent in Japan. Although population aging is increasing in every district, the ratio of population aged sixtyfive and over was 15.4 percent in Tokyo and 16.7 percent in Japan in 2000. Inner Tokyo, on the other hand, is aging faster than the rest of Japan (Table 17.2). When population aging inTokyo and in the twenty-three wards is compared, every year it is higher in the twenty-three wards than in the rest of the Tokyo Prefecture. Although Tokyo is still young compared to Japan, the city’s population is aging rapidly. The dependency ratio in the twenty-three wards is lower than in Japan and in the Tokyo Prefecture, as the population of the group fourteen and under is low in the twenty-three wards. Japan’s low fertility rate accounts for the increase in the proportion of older people in the country. Table 17.2 shows the change in the total fertility rate (TFR) by year. Each year, TFR is highest in Japan, followed by Tokyo and the twenty-three wards. Especially in the nine inner wards (Chuo, Minato, Shibuya, Nakano, Toshima, Bunkyo, Shinjuku, Chiyoda, and Meguro), TFR is extremely low: 0.82 percent in 2000, which is less than two-thirds of the average in Japan and approximately 80 percent of that in Tokyo. Since this tendency is predicted to continue, population aging is likely to accelerate. The income indices of the nine inner wards, the twenty-three wards, and Tokyo Prefecture all exceed that of Japan (Table 17.3). The index is highest in the inner nine wards, second highest in the twenty-three wards, and third highest in Tokyo. In 1990, the index of the twenty-three wards was 160 and that of the nine inner wards was 231, compared with 100 for Japan. While the gap among the income indices Aging, Socioeconomic Status, and Neighborhood Differences inTokyo 305 Table 17.1. Changes in Total Population, by Age Group and Dependency Ratio: Japan, Tokyo, and Wards, 1985–2000 Population 0–14 % 15–64 % 65+ % Dependency Ratio a Japan 1985 121,048,923 21.5 68.2 10.3 46.7 1990 123,611,167 18.2 69.7 12.1 43.5 1995 125,570,246 16.0 69.5 14.6 43.9 2000 126,686,000 14.8 68.5 16.7 46.0 Tokyo Prefecture 1985 11,829,363 18.0 73.1 8.9 36.8 1990 11,855,563 14.7 74.7 10.6 33.8 1995 11,773,605 12.7 73.9 13.0 34.8 2000 11,944,048 12.2 72.4 15.4 38.1 Central Tokyo (23 Wards) 1985 8,354,615 16.8 73.7 9.5 35.7 1990 8,163,573 13.7 74.4 11.2 33.4 1995 7,967,614 12.0 73.9 13.7 34.8 2000 8,134,688 11.1 72.0 16.4 38.1 Inner Tokyo (9 Wards) 1985 1,975,868 14.5 74.7 10.8 33.9 1990 1,782,475 12.1 74.9 13.0 33.5 1995 1,679,515 10.2 74.3 15.5 34.6 2000 1,736,067 9.1 72.8 17.3 36.3 Sources: Japan Census 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000; Tokyo Statistic Yearbook on Public Health, General Affairs Bureau, 2000. a Ratio of persons 65 years to the population 15-64 years. 306 Growing Older inWorld Cities...