Demographic ageing is forcing many developed countries to abandon generous public welfare services. But this change does not mean giving up on welfare provision and adopting libertarian policies that leave almost everything to self-help. Many countries are making more positive use of welfare provision by residents and charitable organisations to support the lives of older people in the community. Looking at the cases of England and Japan, this seminar will introduce the background, current situation, and challenges for contemporary pluralistic welfare services for older people.

As examples of mutual aid-based practices for older people in the community, Dr Daisuke Watanabe will discuss social prescribing and charitable activity in England, along with comprehensive long-term services and daily life support projects, funded by long-term care insurance, in Japan. These initiatives can be broadly divided into asset-based and individual approaches, which complement each other.

The background to these initiatives is the negative aspects of austerity and diverse issues including changing concepts of health, a shift from a medical model to a lifetime support model, and challenging health inequalities. Dr Watanabe will also discuss the costs and other burdens of community-based mutual aid activities, and their sustainability.

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About the contributors:

Dr Daisuke Watanabe is a Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at Seikei University, Tokyo, and a visiting researcher at Japan’s International Longevity Centre. He studied at Keio University and completed his PhD in Media and Governance there in 2009. He is a sociologist of ageing who focuses on social participation and work-life balance in later life during dynamic demographic changes. His latest article is “Understanding diversity in later life and a new culture of aging: Sociology of aging in Japan” in International Sociology, 2021.