Compared to many other nations, Japan's percentage of elderly in the labour force is high, as is their cited ideal retirement age. Expanding employment opportunities for the elderly who want to work is an important issue. Providing such employment opportunities would not only satisfy the desires of those who want to work, it would help pass on the techniques and skills that the elderly have accumulated through long experience to the next generation.

In addition, the level of health and physical strength among the elderly is increasing, requiring flexible responses to individual cases rather than uniform treatment based solely on age.

It is important to build a vibrant aging society that can draw out the latent ability of the elderly and enable them to be connected to society as long as they have the desire and the ability, no matter how old they are.

## (Japan's Elderly Have a Strong Desire to Work Compared to Many Countries)

Looking at the percentage of males 65 and older in the labour force in surveyed countries, South Korea is first, followed in order by Japan, the USA, Germany, and France (Table 39). Looking at desire to continue working, in the same survey, the percentage of those currently employed who said that they wanted to continue working was high in each country surveyed, but Japan was second behind only Germany, with about 90 percent of its working elderly hoping to continue working.

## (An Increasing Number of Healthy Elderly People)

Regarding the health of the elderly, according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare's "Survey on State of Employee's Health" (2002), the percentage of male workers 60 and over who say they are healthy is 85.9%, a higher percentage than that of the 50–59 age group (Table 40). Although in part this may be because workers 60 and over who are not healthy tend to retire or otherwise leave the workplace, over half of non-employed males in the 60–64 and 65–69 age groups also describe themselves as healthy, so there are also many healthy elderly who do not work.

## (Causes of the Strong Desire to Work)

Looking at reasons for wanting to work, the highest percentage of respondents cites economic reasons, but the percentage decreases with age. On the other hand, the percentage naming health reasons, purpose in life, participation in society, and free time increases with age (Table 41).

In addition, the same survey also looked at those without paid employment who are seeking jobs. The percentage responding that they could not find a suitable job was high in each age group. Among those unable to find appropriate employment, a high percentage in each age group stated that they were not particularly about conditions but were still unable to find a job. Compared with the same survey in 2000, the percentage of male workers in the 55–59 and 60–64 age groups that could not find a suitable job decreased. Looking at the age group characteristics of those unable to find suitable work, over 30 percent of those aged 65–69 seeking work were unable to find a job even though they were not particularly about conditions. Although older age groups have a strong desire to work, the lack of jobs means employment if difficult for them (Table 42).