a) Enactment of the Law for the Welfare of the Elderly
In 1963, the National Government enacted the Law for the Welfare of the Elderly. This law has two characteristics. First, it is a basic law which stipulats several basic principles to which all the other laws as well as governmental and voluntary actions related to the life of the elderly should conform. At the same time it is a law which regulates the welfare services for the elderly, including institutional services, community care services, free health-check services, health promotion services, educational services, recreational services, and the like. When this law was enacted, it did not start any new program, in other words, this law was only a compilation of existing services at that time. However, it seems to me that the very existence of this law played a very important role in the development of the public health and welfare service for the elderly thereafter.
b) Tax Deduction Program
The income tax deduction program for those persons supporting parents aged 70 and over was started in 1972, and a similar deduction program for local income tax was started in the following year, 1973. The purpose of tax deduction programs is to stimulate and promote traditional family support and care of aging parents, especially those who are frail and impaired, in their own homes.
c) Development of Old People's Clubs
When the National Government enacted the Law for the Welfare of the Elderly in 1963, the Legislature requested that local governments should make every possible effort to provide needed help to old people's clubs and other organizations that are working for the well-being of the elderly. Along with the enactment of this law, the National Government started the National Subsidy Program for the establishment and operational expenses of old people's clubs. At present (March 30, 1996), there are approximately 134,000 such old people's clubs throughout Japan, and about 8,800,000 - approximately 34 percent of the older population aged 60 and over - are members.
