Recently, the "100 Years of Life Research Institute", a think tank under Hakuhodo DY Holdings, conducted a survey of ordinary people in six countries: Japan, the United States, China, South Korea, Germany, and Finland, asking them whether they want to live to be 100 years old and their happiness, and Japan was at the bottom.
The survey was conducted online and asked more than 5,000 men and women aged 20~70. When asked, "Do you want to live to be 100 years old?", less than 30% of Japanese people said they would like to do so, which is the lowest among the six countries surveyed, and their happiness rate is also the lowest.
When it comes to life before the age of 100, there is no significant difference in the percentage of respondents who say "it looks hard" or "don't want to cause trouble to others" across countries. However, the percentage of positive responses in Japan is much lower than in other countries, with very few responses such as "it looks happy" and "there are many opportunities".
In addition, Japan's negative response to expectations for the future, such as economic growth, is also significantly higher.
"In other countries, people are more focused on living positively than after living to 100," said one study leader. In Japan, raising awareness of active living is also an issue. ”
Japan conducted this survey because March 20 is the International Day of Happiness, and the United Nations General Assembly considers the pursuit of happiness to be a fundamental human goal.
This year's World Happiness Ranking Report has been released, and Japan ranks 51st out of 143 countries, the lowest among G7 countries. Moreover, this year, Japan's ranking has dropped by four places, and last year's ranking was 47th.
According to this year's report, Finland has been in first place for seven consecutive years, followed by Denmark in second place and Iceland in third place. The Nordic countries with better education and welfare resources have long occupied the top few places in terms of happiness.
The United Kingdom is in 20th place and the United States is in 23rd place. For the first time, the U.S. dropped out of the top 20 due to a significant drop in happiness under the age of 30.
South Korea ranked 52nd and China ranked 60th.
At the bottom of the list is Afghanistan, and in second to last place is Lebanon. In war-affected countries, there is a general trend of low happiness.
Both the 100-year-old life study and the world happiness rankings show that the happiness level of Japanese people is declining, which has also sparked a wide range of social discussions.
A general perception is that consumption is too high, the cost of pension is too high, and it is impossible to support yourself by pension. In Japan, where the birthrate is declining and the population is aging, the "100-year-old era", "bankruptcy of the elderly", and "financial problems of the elderly" are particularly serious.
Not long ago, Japanese media reported that if you want to live a decent life in old age, you must have at least 50 million yen in savings.
In 2019, the Financial Services Agency of Japan issued a report calling on everyone to save for their old age. At that time, people did a rough calculation:
1. Based on the average situation of unemployed households of elderly couples, the monthly deficit is about 50,000 yen.
2. Based on a monthly subsidy of 50,000 yen, it will be about 13 million yen for 20 years and 20 million yen for 30 years.
In other words, if you want to survive for 30 years after retirement, you must have at least 20 million yen in savings.
But now the Japanese media believe that this figure is too low, as far as the reality is concerned, the quality of life in old age will be affected by various factors: pensions will be reduced in the future, inflation, rising prices, and the cost of living will inevitably increase......
Elderly couples need an average of 379,000 yen per month to live comfortably in their old age, and an average pension of 246,237 yen per month, which means a monthly subsidy of 132,763 yen.
The deposit required for 30 years is: 132,763 yen× 12 months× 30 years = 47,794,680 yen. That's about 50 million yen.
It is too difficult for ordinary people to save 50 million yen before retirement. After all, the cost of living when they are young is not low, which means that most people must also come out to work after retirement. And if your physical condition does not allow it, life can quickly get into trouble.
Japan's NHK previously filmed the documentary "Old Age Bankruptcy", which recorded the miserable lives of many elderly people.
Mr. Tashiro, an elderly man in his 80s who lives alone, lives in a messy house, and because he is old, he has no strength to clean up.
He has a monthly pension of about 100,000 yen, of which 65,000 is the national pension and 35,000 is the social pension accumulated from his previous work. His monthly rent is 60,000 yen, and the remaining 40,000 yen is used to live, and after paying for water, electricity and gas insurance, his living expenses are only 20,000 yen. Even eating needs to be budget-conscious, and I barely survive on the cheapest cold and dried noodles every day.
He thought about moving to a place where the rent was cheaper, but moving also needed money, and he didn't have the strength to clean it up, so he had to drag it off day by day. Later, because there was no money to pay the electricity bill, the electricity was also cut off. He worked hard when he was young, and he never imagined that his life would be like this in his later years.
Mr. Tashiro is just a microcosm of the lives of many elderly people in Japan, and bankruptcy is increasingly becoming a social problem. In this case, longevity is really a torture.
More and more young people in Japan are also thinking about this question. Most people think that longevity is not necessarily happiness:
The longer you live, the higher your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.
If he died at the age of 90, he probably wouldn't have suffered from dementia and left with everyone's regret. And like the 95-year-old, there are many people who need to take care of dementia. To some extent, it is necessary to make your own medical trade-offs.
There are also people over 80 years old in the workplace. It's nice to be able to work for a long time, but I don't want to be dependent on the company. I believe that the relationship between the company and the employees should be relaxed, so if there is no fate, I will consider leaving. In addition to my job, I work about 3 hours a week, about 3 days a week. After retiring at the age of 70, even if you want to challenge yourself, it is difficult for your physical and mental strength to keep up. It's hard work, but I'm working hard for the future.
Do you want to live to be 100 years old? If you are asked to "live", now that you have life, you want to "live" as much as you can. But when discussing life with neighbors and acquaintances, there are many people who want to give up. I also made up my mind to give up and cancelled both my life insurance and cancer insurance. I want to relax and enjoy life.
Longevity is not necessarily happiness.
I don't want to live to be 100 years old while being cared for, and I want to leave alone when I can move.
I don't know if it's 70 or 80, but I don't want to cause trouble to the people around me.
If you want to live a long life, you have to be healthy, and you have to spend money, so it's better to live a healthy life expectancy. I think it's enough to live to be 80 years old. If you think about it this way, what do you have to do to survive?
Of course, there are also those who believe that longevity itself has little to do with happiness, and that what matters is the way of thinking about the problem:
I don't want to live to be 100 years old, but if there are people who live to be 100 years old, I feel that I am still young and can live my current life actively. I believe that people's happiness is not determined simply by their lifestyle, but whether they are happy now. I think this is more valid to think about, but I don't know why Japanese people tend to think about negative effects.
There is some truth to this statement. The increase in human life expectancy is in itself a cause for celebration. But how to live a long life and live happily is indeed a question worth exploring.