A comparative analysis on attitude towards ageing of middle-aged adults in South Korea and Japan

This study focuses on a comparative analysis of attitude towards ageing among people aged 40-59 living in Korea and Japan. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether people’s perceptions on one's own future life vary in two countries. We also describe leading factors that make Korean and Japanese middle-aged adults more or less concerned about their ageing. The data for this study are collected from the 2010 Korea General Social Survey (KGSS) and Japanese General Social Survey (JGSS). Three scales of attitude towards ageing were examined as our dependent variables: anxiety about poor health, loss of life and financial independence. Our hypothesis was that Koreans will have more negative attitude towards ageing due to relatively weak social welfare for the elderly compared to Japan and strong family ties which make the elderly dependent on their offspring. However, the findings show that Japanese middle-aged adults are significantly more concerned about their future life than Koreans. After adjusting for socioeconomic characteristics, the difference between two countries became even greater. This study will attempt to address this result as following socioeconomic aspects: characteristics of Korean and Japanese middle-age, different social perceptions on education level and living area (urban/rural) in Korea and Japan.