Posted on 04/27/2018 3:09:44 PM PDT by simpson96
Japan has the world's oldest population, with more than a quarter of its citizens aged 65 or older.
The aging population has already put a strain on Japan's financial system and retail industry. But in recent years, another unexpected trend has been unfolding: In record numbers, elderly people in Japan are committing petty crimes so they can spend the rest of their days in prison.
According to Bloomberg, complaints and arrests involving older citizens are outpacing those of any other demographic in Japan, and the elderly crime rate has quadrupled over the past couple of decades.
In prisons, one out of every five inmates is a senior citizen. And in many cases — nine out of 10, for senior women — the crime that lands them in jail is petty shoplifting.
The unusual phenomenon stems from the difficulties of caring for the country's elderly population. The number of Japanese seniors living alone increased by 600% between 1985 and 2015, Bloomberg reported. Half of the seniors caught shoplifting reported living alone, the government discovered last year, and 40% of them said they either don't have family or rarely speak to them.
For these seniors, a life in jail is better than the alternative.
"They may have a house. They may have a family. But that doesn't mean they have a place they feel at home," Yumi Muranaka, head warden of Iwakuni Women's Prison, told Bloomberg.
(snip)...female inmates interviewed by Bloomberg suggested they feel a sense of community in prison that they never felt on the outside.
"I enjoy my life in prison more. There are always people around, and I don't feel lonely here. When I got out the second time, I promised that I wouldn't go back. But when I was out, I couldn't help feeling nostalgic,"
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
This is surprising - from the few people I have known from Japan, the elderly are almost revered.
A big part of the problem is Japan’s demographic suicide. They have all but stopped having babies.
Fakenews.
.
if this spreads, I’d better sell my “senior housing” stocks!
There once was a little girl who lived with her mother on the edge of the forest. Every day she wore a red hood over her head, so people called her Little Red Riding Hood.
Little Red Riding Hood’s grandmother lived on the other side of the forest IN THE STATE PRISON. “Would you like to go to grandmother’s IN THE BIG house today?” her mother asked. “Grandma is ill and could use this basket of food. But stay on the path, there’s a wolf in the forest.” Little Red Riding Hood wasn’t afraid of wolves and happily set off. After a while a big, hairy beast suddenly jumped out in front of her. It was the wolf. The mean creature asked what Little Red Riding Hood was doing. Still a little surprised, she told the wolf she was going to grandma’s IN THE BIG house.
The wolf quickly thought of a trick to play. “Shouldn’t you pick some flowers for Grandma, she’d like that.” Little Red Riding Hood did what the wolf said BUT THE GUARDS WOULDN’T LET LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD TAKE THE NICE PRETTY FLOWERS IN TO HER GRANDMA BECAUSE GRANNY WAS REALLY A BAD OLD GAL AND HAD GOTTEN HERSELF TOSSED INTO SOLITARY.
Bump
A long term care home is expensive.
In the US, Medicaid foots the bill.
I guess they don’t have such an arrangement in Japan.
Yoko Ono keeps her dance card filled
Then when you die-like a neighbor did- Medicare puts a lean on the property he had when alive and kicked his widow out.
Not only that but must of the young men are Hikikomori who never go outside.
I know it’s true because the New York Times told me so.
Nothing like gov-co compassion.
If Japan wants to survive as a nation the youngsters had better “get busy”.
If Japan has been suffering from excessive population for many many decades, then maybe a reduction in population would give the Japanese more elbow room to more freely move around. Seriously, how many years does a Japanese person get packed in like a sardine in little bitty container before he starts thinking about needing a larger living space?! Like reduce the population by 25% and have more room in the housing inventory!
Yes, this happened to our neighbor. It’s called poor estate planning. You gotta do a quit claim dead to a kid or sell it or something a few years before you anticipate the old folks home. In our state it’s 7 years.
There is/was something kicking around about ‘old folks’ getting arrested and going to prison with the advantages being
Free Medical care
1st class library
1st class gym
Free meals
Free Room & Board
Lots of TVs and rec equipment
Big exercise yard
Men/Women with GUNS protecting you 24/7
Finally get to afford to live in that gated community all were talking about.
For some in cities etal it is like being in prison without all the bennies listed above.
“In our state it’s 7 years.”
—
I’ve never heard of one that long———in MA it’s 5 years .
7 years seems very lengthy.
.
There were 1,000,000 live births in Japan last year. That’s a lot.
By whom?
After all, it's hard to be revered if you had only one child, and that child is now a 53-year-old spinster or 45-year-old hikikomori.
Regards,
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