The problems facing senior citizens in an aging society

These days, the life of elderly seems to be in danger. The scandals such as pension fiasco and Comsn misdeeds have hit our society. According to the demographic statistics, one in four in 2025 would be over 65 years old.

First, posthumous chore. Especially for people who don't have any children like me, it’s a serious matter to handle posthumous chore. Whom can I rely on? If I could leave my living will or prepare for my death in advance, it’s not so critical. But if I become unconscious out of the blue, who deal with payment of medical care, handling real estate/bank account, informing utility sector about my death, discarding refrigerator/VCR, my cat and so on? One possible answer would be lawyers. But I doubt that they are willing to deal with such an unprofitable work. The elderly need overall support system. So, such a work should be done by the government.

Second, crimes targeting the elderly. Let’s take "Ore ore" ("It's me") frauds for example. Swindles call targets and persuade them that they are relatives in trouble and need quick cash. They pose as grandchild, police officers and lawyers to gain victims' trust using bunch of detailed information. They can be an easy pray for fraud due to impaired judgment. We can consider that banking facilities also have hand in this fraud. To prevent this, banking facilities should have responsibility not to be withdrawn money by such as redundant confirmation.

In conclusion, the elderly played important roles to achieve high economic growth. It is no　exaggeration to say that they have brought Japan to one of the highest industrialized countries. Now, they should be given social hospitality and protected from crimes.