The Effects of living arrangement for the elderly on Happiness and Poverty

• Project/Area Number: 17K13754
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Public finance/Public economy
• Research Institution: Chuo University
• Principal Investigator: Matsuura Tsukasa 中央大学, 経済学部, 准教授 (50520863)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2021)
• Budget Amount: ¥2,860,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥660,000); Fiscal Year 2020: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000); Fiscal Year 2019: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥650,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥150,000)
• Keywords: 幸福度 / 生活満足度 / 高齢者 / 単身世帯 / ジェンダー / 貧困 / 国際比較 / 単身高齢者 / 少子高齢化 / 未婚化 / 生活保護 / 日中比較 / 高齢化 / 少子化 / 主観的厚生 / 高齢者就業 / 日本的雇用慣行 / 東アジア各国比較 / 格差

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study investigates the influence of living alone on the elderly’s subjective well-being (SWB), using longitudinal survey data from Japan and China. The main findings are as follows. First, the influence of living alone on SWB is not statistically significant for elderly Chinese women, while elderly Japanese women who live alone are likely to feel significantly happier. Second, living alone does not affect SWB of elderly Chinese men, while it significantly negatively affects the SWB of elderly Japanese men.
In addition, this study explores the effects of regional differences in elderly one-person households on regional differences in the public assistance rate for the elderly using data by prefecture. We show that a positive correlation between elderly single-male households and the public assistance rate for the elderly exists even when prefectural fixed effects are considered.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

日本は世界で最も高齢化が進展していることに加えて、高齢者の単身世帯化も進んでいる。高齢者の単身世帯化は、プライバシーを確保して、自分の生活を自己決定する意味でも正の側面もある。ただし、本研究では、高齢者の単身世帯化が特に男性の場合では主観的厚生を低下させたり、貧困につながりやすいことを実証した。
日本の高齢化や単身世帯化が今後も進むことは避けられないし、大家族制への回帰も現実的ではない。高齢者の単身世帯化が主観的厚生の低下や貧困につながることを定量的に示した本研究は、今後は高齢者の単身世帯化が主観的厚生の低下や貧困につながらないような政策について考える必要を示唆するものである。

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Living Arrangements and Subjective Well-being of the Elderly in China and Japan (2021)
  • Author(s): Tsukasa Matsuura and Xinxin Ma
  • Journal Title: Journal of Happiness Studies Volume: -
  • Peer Reviewed / Int'l Joint Research
• [Journal Article] 単身高齢世帯と高齢者の生活保護受給割合：都道府県別データを用いた検証 (2020)
  • Author(s): 松浦司
  • Journal Title: 中央大学 経済研究所 ディスカッション・ペーパー Volume: 333 Pages: 1-17
• [Journal Article] 居住形態と高齢者の主観的厚生（well-being）：日中比較 (2020)
  • Author(s): 松浦司
  • Journal Title: 中央大学 経済研究所 ディスカッション・ペーパー Volume: 332 Pages: 1-26
• [Journal Article] フィリピンにおける人口増加が経済成長や貧困に与える影響 (2019)
  • Author(s): 松浦司
  • Journal Title: 中央大学経済学論纂 Volume: 60 Pages: 259-276
  • Open Access
• [Journal Article] 子ども数が親の生活満足度に与える影響の国際比較 (2019)
  • Author(s): 松浦司
  • Journal Title: 教育と医学 Volume: 67-4 Pages: 22-28
• [Journal Article] Employee representation in Japanese family and non-family SMEs (2017)
  • Author(s): Tsukasa Matsuura and Tomohiko Noda
  • Journal Title: Munich Personal RePEc Archive Volume: 81539 Pages: 1-32
• [Presentation] One-Person Households and Public Assistance in Japanese Elderly: An Analysis Using Prefectural Data (2021)
  • Author(s): 松浦 司
  • Organizer: 日本人口学会
• [Presentation] One-Person Households and Public Assistance in Japanese Elderly: An Analysis Using Prefectural Data (2021)
  • Author(s): 松浦 司
  • Organizer: 日本経済学会
• [Presentation] 単身高齢世帯と高齢者の生活保護受給割合：都道府県別データを用いた検証 (2020)
  • Author(s): 松浦司
  • Organizer: 日本応用経済学会
• [Presentation] Living Arrangement and Well-being of the Elderly in China and Japan (2020)
  • Author(s): Tsukasa Matsuura
  • Organizer: The International Conference on Changing Family Life in East Asia
• [Presentation] The Effects of Unions on Employment Conditions in Japanese SMEs (2020)
  • Author(s): 松浦司
  • Organizer: 日本応用経済学会
• [Presentation] Fertility Intention and Birth Behavior in Japan and Korea (2019)
  • Author(s): Tsukasa Matsuura
  • Organizer: Population Association of Taiwan
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Fertility Intention and Birth Behavior in Japan and Korea (2019)
  • Author(s): Tsukasa Matsuura
  • Organizer: Asian & Australasian Society of Labour Economics
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] 出産意欲と出産行動-日韓パネルデータを用いた分析 (2018)
  • Author(s): 松浦司
  • Organizer: 日本経済政策学会関東部会
• [Presentation] 出産意欲と出産行動-日韓パネルデータを用いた分析 (2018)
  • Author(s): 松浦司
  • Organizer: 日本人口学会中部部会
• [Presentation] The Gender Difference in the Burden of Having Children (2018)
  • Author(s): Tsukasa Matsuura
  • Organizer: International Conference of the Japan Economic Policy Association
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Presentation] Employee Relations and Representation in Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan (2018)
  • Author(s): Tsukasa Matsuura
  • Organizer: Research seminar of Solair in UP Diliman
• [Presentation] Employee Relations and Representation in Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan (2018)
  • Author(s): Tsukasa Matsuura
  • Organizer: UPSE-PCED Seminar in UP Diliman
• [Presentation] Employee Relations and Representation in Small and Medium Enterprises in Japan (2017)
  • Author(s): Tsukasa Matsuura
  • Organizer: 東京労働研究会
• [Presentation] The Gender Difference in the Burden of Having Children (2017)
  • Author(s): Tsukasa Matsuura
  • Organizer: UPSE-PCED Seminar in UP Diliman
• [Presentation] The Gender Difference in the Burden of Having Children (2017)
  • Author(s): Tsukasa Matsuura
  • Organizer: 17th Conference of the Science Council of Asia
  • Int'l Joint Research
• [Book] 寺村 絵里子編『日本・台湾の高学歴女性』 (2021)
  • Author(s): 松浦 司
  • Total Pages: 150
  • Publisher: 晃洋書房
  • ISBN: 9784771034082
• [Book] 有配偶者の出産意欲の日台比較 寺村絵里子編『日本・台湾の高学歴女性』 (2020)
  • Author(s): 松浦司
  • Total Pages: 150
  • Publisher: 晃洋書房
• [Book] 現代人口経済学 (2020)
  • Author(s): 松浦 司
  • Total Pages: 195
  • Publisher: 日本評論社
  • ISBN: 9784535559509