In Japan "Social Security Expenditure" of the government budget includes the livelihood assistance, social  welfare, social insurance, health and sanitation, and unemployment benefits.  After 1982, annual growth in social security expenditures had been held to 2%.

  In order to compare the elderly care in both countries, first of all I compare the social security expenditure.  

  The expenditure of the care for the elderly is included in the "OTHERS".  And about the difference of the health care expenditure. I will mention it more in detail later.

  In 1990 in Japan the number of public pension Beneficiaries are as follows;

National Pension: 9,278 
Basic Pension:      2.084 
Welfare Pension: 10,519 
(unit: l,000 persons)  

  The biggest difference of the pensions system in both countries is that in Japan they can get pensions from 60 years old.  But in 1989 71.4% of the men who are 60-64 are working and 35.8% of the men who are 65 years old working in Japan. 

  And another big difference is that the housewives can get almost the same amount of pensions as their husbands.  This is one of the reasons why there are so many housewives in Japan.  

  From this table it seems that the Japanese pension is very high.  But it is not true. Because there are three kinds of pensions in Japan. The beneficiaries are as follows;

Welfare Pension: 10,519,000 
National Pension:  9,278,000 
Basic Pension:       2,084.000 
  
  And the majority of the elderly, who are more than 80 years old now, get only the national pension (2,000 SEK per month) or basic pension (4,000 SEK per month).  Moreover the household cost in Japan is about 50% more expensive than in Sweden (The Financial Post Newspaper in U.K. in 3.2. 1993).  The Swedish KRONA has become weaker and the Japanese YEN has become stronger, so the gap of household cost has become bigger and bigger recently.  The household cost in Japan is most expensive in the world. Moreover there is no housing allowance ( bostad bidrag ) system in Japan.  

  So it is rather hard to compare the pension in the countries.  But it is clear that the pension in Japan has become better and better.  But in Japan and the gap between the rich pensioners and the poor pensioners are bigger in Japan.  The percentage of the pensions beneficiaries are about half in Japan, so the pensions expenditure per GDP is about half than that of Sweden.  

The aging rate will rise up very quickly in near future in Japan, so Japanese government has a plan to put off pensions age till 65 years old.   

 Fig.5 Social Welfare Expenditure in 1986

  The social welfare expenditure per GDP is about one tenth in Japan compared to Sweden.  So not only the elderly care expenditure but also the child care expenditure is very little in Japan.  As a result, the number of new born babies has been decreasing in Japan. 

Fig.6 Total Special Birthrate 

  The average number of children one woman gives birth to in her life is called the "total special birthrate".  To maintain the current population, this total special birthrate must be 2.1.  In recent years, the total special birthrate has declined.  In 1991, a total special birthrate of 1.53, the lowest ever, was recorded in Japan.  On the contrary, the total special birthrate in Sweden is 2.10 in 1991, the highest among the developed countries.  I think that the biggest reason about this gap between Sweden and Japan comes from the difference of the child care and the parents allowance.  In Japan the number of day care centers for the children is not enough and there is no parents allowance system.

  From these comparison, we can understand that the Swedish society and the Japanese society are very different.  In Sweden the local government has the responsibility of the social welfare.  But in Japan family have the main responsibility to take care of the elderly, children and handicapped people.  For example, in the Japanese Civil Law, it says that "The family has the responsibility to take care of their elderly parents".  (But there is no punishment, even if people do not follow this law).  But in Sweden, municipalities have the responsibility to take care of the elderly.