Comparative Studies of Welfare States between China and Japan ; From the Geographical Viewpoint.

2005 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 16520491
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Human geography
• Research Institution: Kokugakuin University
• Principal Investigator: TAHARA Yuko Kokugakuin University, Faculty of Economics, Associate Professor, 経済学部, 助教授 (40282511)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): ARAI Yoshio The University of Tokyo, Komaba, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Professor, 大学院・総合文化研究科, 教授 (50134408) ; OKAMOTO Kohei Nagoya University, Graduate Scholl of Environmental Studies, Professor, 大学院・環境学研究科, 教授 (90201988)
• Project Period (FY): 2004 – 2005
• Keywords: Welfare states / Cities of China / Elderly / Welfare regimes / Welfare mix / pluralism / Out-of-home activities / Activity Space / Elderly migration

Research Abstract

In Chapter 1,the difference and similarity between Welfare regime of China and Japan were analyzed. The two countries share familialism in care giving for the elderly, however, families in Shanghai can reduce their rolls by outsourcing care services from diverse providers, such as institutional care, housemaids, and voluntary associations based on communities.
In Chapter 2,the characteristics of the out-of-home activities of the elderly were analyzed comparing the activity data of the elderly extracted from the results of an activity-diary survey in a Chinese city and the time-use data collected by a time-use survey by NHK in Japan. The reduce of the difference between weekday activities and holiday ones are commonly found in both China and Japan. The most noteworthy feature of the activities of the Chinese elderly is a traditional gender becoming obvious in the aged days.
On the basis of the questionnaire surveys in Shanghai, chapter 3 establishes its framework on the behavior geography , tries to get a full-range knowledge of the daily activity space of the urban elderly. First, great efforts were made to display the generic characteristics of daily activities of the elderly. Meanwhile, concerns the differences of activity characteristics among different subgroups of the elderly. Finally, comparisons were made between the daily activity spaces of the elderly from different residents as to understand the influence that built environment posed on the daily activity space of the elderly
The aim of Chapter 4 is to clarify the futures and generating factors of intra-urban migration in Shanghai by using the population census as well as the hearing survey to 217 elderly persons. Its elderly people concentrate in the central core area of the city, where various reconstruction projects are now in full flood. The main reason of elderly migration in Shanghai is these reconstruction projects. Many old people had to move out from the central core area to its neighboring areas under the downtown redevelopment. Urban development projects are also being done in the suburban area, which are forcing old farmers to move within suburban area.