Tax Policy for Aging Societies: Lessons from Japan

The Japanese population is aging faster than any other in the world. The per­ centage of Japan's population aged 65 and above was only 7.1% in 1970,but just 30 years later, in 2000, it reached 17.2%. A declining birth rate and a rising average life expectancy will continue to push this trend further. This situation is causing serious problems for Japanese society.Structural reforms, especially tax and social security reforms, to accommodate this drastic demographic change have become an urg...