This stimulating collection of nine essays examines the implications of demographic trends for inequality in Japan. The contributors are sociologists who elucidate how changes such as fewer children, more childless couples, postponement of marriage, increasing life span, educational disparities and worsening employment conditions are influencing social stratification and inequality.
Debate over inequality in Japan has increased significantly over the past decade triggered by growing income disparities and the increased marginalization of younger workers and women in the labor market. Although this book is a translation of work published in 2006, the issue of disparities has drawn even more attention since 2008 in the post-Lehman Shock era.
Shirahase emphasizes growing risk in Japan, arguing that "the falling birthrate/aging society implied a move away from the traditional life course characterized by marriage, childbirth and co-residence of old people with their adult offspring, and that this shift is intimately connected with a high level of economic risk."