As the nation's population grays rapidly, the Japanese society is in desperate need of a sufficient number of workers who provide nursing care to elderly people. But a large number of nursing care workers are leaving their jobs every year, putting nursing care entities in a severe shortage of staffing. The central and local governments and such entities need to work out effective steps to help nursing care workers continue their work.
According to a fiscal 2013 survey by the Care Work Foundation, more than 20 percent of nursing care facilities, including intensive-care old people's homes, and entities providing care services received at home said they suffer from shortage of workers. The shortage is particularly serious in urban areas where the elderly population is rapidly increasing.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry estimates that there were 1.49 million nursing care workers in fiscal 2012. But it forecasts that in fiscal 2025, when all of the postwar baby boomers will be at least 75 years old, Japan will need 2.37 million to 2.49 million care workers. This means that the nation has to secure an additional 880,000 to 1 million such workers.