You are cordially invited to the next

DIJ Social Science Study Group on TUESDAY, February 28, 18:30

Felix Lill (Hertie School of Governance, Berlin) will give a
presentation on

Are the elderly a cost factor for society or its safety net?

A comparison of family regimes and National Transfer Accounts data in
Germany and Japan

Various works have argued that ageing societies’ increasing dependency
ratios provoke generational conflict over scarce financial resources. In
post-industrial economies, younger cohorts face disadvantages in the
labour market and regarding the generosity of the welfare state compared
to previous generations. However, there has also been the tendency to
alleviate these imbalances through informal inter-generational family
transfers. Comparing Japan and Germany – two of the fastest aging
societies worldwide – this presentation investigates whether and to what
extent the family can serve as a bulwark against potential generational
conflict. The paper draws on Brumberg and Modigliani’s (1954) lifecycle
model and Mudrazija’s (2014) extension and combines a generational
perspective with comparative welfare regime research. For hypothesis
testing, the two most recent cross sections of National Transfer
Accounts (2004/2009 for Japan, 2003/2008 for Germany) are used.

I will investigate whether the elderly serve as a safety net for
precarious younger generations in both countries. Results indicate that
income deficits over the lifecycle have increased. In addition, I will
look at whether individual assets such as savings have become more
important. With regard to demographic and household-financial dynamics
and policy responses, the presentation will compare differences in the
capacity of families to serve as an inter-generational safety net.

Felix Lill is a journalist reporting on Japan and East Asia (for Die
Zeit, NZZ, Die Presse, Der Spiegel, Cicero and others) and a PhD
candidate in public policy at the Hertie School of Governance in Berlin.
In his dissertation, he is researching if and under what conditions
population ageing coincides with generational conflict. He is currently
a scholarship holder of the German Institute for Japanese Studies, Tokyo.

Presentation and discussion will be in English. All are welcome to attend. Prior registration is not necessary but appreciated ( mailto:heinrich@dijtokyo.org ).

Event is hosted by the German Institute for Japanese Studies Tokyo (DIJ)
Jōchi Kioizaka Bldg. 2F, 7-1 Kioichō, Chiyoda-ku, Tōkyō 102-0094, Phone:
03-3222-5077

For directions visit http://www.dijtokyo.org/access