Japan Elderly Care Are Increasingly Killing Off Aged Population To Cut Costs In What’s Being Called ‘Caregiver Fatigue’

Earlier this month a new report was published by Etsuko Yuhara, a professor of social welfare at Nihon Fukushi University in Aichi Prefecture, which revealed that there was a murder-suicide or killing of an individual aged 60 and older in Japan every eight days by relatives with this so-called “caregiver fatigue,” or by very cynical attitudes towards the future in the decade up to 2021.

Yuhara analyzed ten years worth of news reports compiled from across the country, finding at least 443 fatalities in 437 such cases. She believes they would be even higher had non-fatal cases had been included.

The Mainichi, a Japanese newspaper, wrote: ‘By relationship, spouses accounted for 214 cases, while parents and their children, including in-laws, comprised 206. Thirteen were siblings, seven were grandparent and grandchild, and three were otherwise related. In as many as some 65% of cases, both those requiring care and their caregivers were over the age of 60.’

Further examining wills and statements, and other court documents, Yuhara discovered that ‘in recent years were cases of aging caregivers who had become economically, physically or emotionally stuck or were alone in their distress. Hopeless for the future, these caregivers had evidently decided to kill their loved ones and take their own lives,’ the paper added.

These numbers provide a glimpse into a growing that is hard to manage and keep track of, as local municipalities do not have the adequate ability to monitor just how systemic the issue truly is.

There are two major reasons for these killings and related suicides. The first is the heavy burden of caring for a family member and the other is relationships within families.

I was not so shocked at the results of the research. The same reasons are still there and this is not changing over time.

Yuhara told This Week in Asia.

Yoko Tsukamoto, a professor of infection control at the Health Sciences University of Hokkaido, according to South China Morning Post, said, “The problem of ‘carer killings’ has been around for a while in Japan, but I do sense that it got worse during the coronavirus lockdowns. People who were probably already struggling to cope were all of a sudden completely isolated and had no one to talk to about the problems they were facing.”

I’ve heard of sons and daughters giving up their jobs to live with their elderly parents but struggling, especially when it is someone with dementia, for example. But when the cost of inpatient care at a proper facility is so expensive, lots of families just do not have a choice.

She said

Indian-based Wion also highlighted how earlier this month a 86-year-old man murdered his wife 81 years, because his wife’s health was retreating. Other cases of family members abandoning and dumping their elderly family members at parks and other venues is growing also.

Moreover, The Mainichi wrote: ‘As well, the National Police Agency in its annually published crime statistics includes “nursing and care fatigue” as a motive for murder and assault resulting in death. However, as the data does not differentiate by age, it was difficult to grasp specifics such as how many of these incidents involved elder care.’

With the aging population, elder-elder care is on the rise. Incidents won’t decline if there’s not enough support for caregivers, who can easily become isolated and overwhelmed by their duties. Local governments need to carefully look at the circumstances behind the crimes and work on ways to prevent them.

Yuhara explained

In July, French publication Le Monde reported that thousands of these social care facilities face bankruptcy in the years to come. It noted: ‘Rising prices are threatening the finances of Japan’s nursing homes, which are already facing growing staff shortages against the backdrop of the country’s increasingly aging population. In the coming years, 27% of such 11,575 establishments could go bankrupt, if soaring prices for services and goods continue, according to a survey conducted by Minkaikyo, an association of elderly care providers.’

“Retirement homes are unable to pass on cost increases to consumers in the same way as other businesses,” the organization said.

But while these problems have been growing, Western media thinks Japan’s healthcare practices should be emulated by other countries.

In an opinion piece published in August, The Washington Post published a report titled “Japan can teach the world a better way to age.” The author references bringing the care to the elderly at their homes, and basically regressing public services from them. Beena Vankataraman for The WaPo wrote (in part):

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If you want a glimpse into the future, go to Japan.

Where you’ll see what’s coming for many other countries, including the United States, is in rural areas and regional cities outside Tokyo: lots of people growing old and dying, and relatively few people having and raising children.

In today’s Japan, the young and middle-aged are absorbed in caring for the old, and the resources of small towns are overstretched. In some places, family graves have no descendants to tend them, and sacred festivals held for generations are in danger of disappearing.

It is a gift to receive wisdom from the old, but rarer still to receive a message from the future. Following some Japanese examples can make life better for people living longer in all parts of the world – and for all caregivers and societies facing the high costs and harsh realities of the aging population.

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This has not aged well in light of the reports coming out of Japan.

On top of this and the country’s high number of elderly, Japan has been facing years of declining birth rates. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in January, 2023, vowed to “create a children-first economy and society” and facilitate “the most effective investment for the future.”

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AUTHOR COMMENTARY

Whoso robbeth his father or his mother, and saith, It is no transgression; the same is the companion of a destroyer.

Proverbs 28:24

As terrible as it is, what this crazed liberal from The WaPo said – “If you want a glimpse into the future, go to Japan” – is true. Japan’s economy is also in the gutter, and they are on the verge of total collapse just like the U.S. and Western nations. Caring for the older generations, especially in times of sky high inflation and lacking resources, and moral decay and degradation, the elderly are one of the first to get cut.

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[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).

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