A declining birthrate and an aging population are changing the composition of Japanese households. A 2007 survey by the health and welfare ministry shows that the percentage of households comprising elderly people alone has risen while the size of the average household has shrunk. The trend points to the need for local governments and people to make efforts to prevent the isolation of the elderly.

As of June 7, 2007, there were about 48.027 million households. Of them, 31.3 percent were composed of parents and an unmarried child or children, 25 percent were composed of one person, and 22.1 percent were made up of married couples alone. The size of an average household has shrunk from 3.22 people in 1986 to 2.63 in 2007.

The percentage of households composed solely of people aged 65 or over rose from 6.3 percent in 1986 to 18.8 percent in 2007. Of these households, 48.7 percent were composed of couples and 48 percent were single-member households. Among people receiving nursing care, 25 percent were receiving it from spouses, 17.9 percent from their children, and 14.3 percent from the spouses of their children — all living in the same household.

The number of elderly people who rely on nursing care provided by other elderly people in the same household is also increasing as the population grays. Of people in their 70s receiving such care, 52.5 percent rely on people aged 70 or over. The corresponding figure for people in their 80s was 30.3 percent and that for people aged 90 or over was 19.4 percent. For the latter group, 7.3 percent of caregivers were aged 80 or over.

Since a sense of community in urban neighborhoods tends to be weak, elderly people living alone in urban areas face the danger of being isolated. Younger neighbors should try to be on speaking terms with their elderly neighbors so that the latter can rely on them if they need help.

Local governments should assist elderly people who provide care for other elderly people. They should also help elderly people who otherwise have difficulty applying for public social services, including nursing-care insurance benefits.