An examination of social policies towards the elderly in ageing societies: A comparison of Japan and South Korea

Aging is one of the most important agenda topics in the recent period due to the rapidly increasing and continuing increase in the elderly population worldwide. The rapidly increasing number of elderly people has changed the population structure of many societies and started to constitute the majority of the population. This situation, in addition to changes in demographics, has created new challenges for countries and governments. These challenges have led to increased interest in welfare studies against the individual problems of the aging population and required countries to implement effective and planned policies that will turn the existing elderly population into opportunities. The aim of this thesis is to comparatively examine the studies on this increasing elderly population in the context of two selected countries, Japan and South Korea. Japan and South Korea are among the countries where aging is quite evident today. This situation has increased the need for significant policy and program implementation in order for both countries to cope with their aging populations and ensure the welfare of this population. Responding to the individual, economic and social problems of the elderly population and turning this population into an opportunity and increasing their contribution to society has become a critical issue for these countries. For this reason, it is important to examine the policy studies and social measures they take for the welfare of the elderly in these two countries, which tend to age rapidly, as they can serve as an example for the policy studies of other aging societies. This study includes examining the social policies implemented by Japan and South Korea for their elderly and comparing the similar and different aspects of the policies of the two countries. Before the comparison, the social policies offered by both countries for the elderly are explained and examined in detail. In the study, the transformation processes of both countries towards the increasing elderly population and the cultural importance they give to the elderly are also mentioned and their effects on their social policies are discussed. In this respect, the study provides an important example of how and in what direction traditional and cultural values affect a country's social policies, focusing on two different countries