Below are the results of a survey conducted by NLI Research Institute last December titled "Survey of Residential Life in an Aging Society." The survey's objective was to investigate residential conditions and people's awareness regarding residential conditions in late life.
Questionnaires were mailed to 1,000 male and female residents of Tama City age 45 or older, and 352 responses were received. In all parentheses below, the first figure refers to survey results for the New Town area, the second to the original (non-New Town)Tama City.
(1) Profile of New Town Residents
1. Characteristics of individuals
A larger proportion of NT residents than Tama City residents are in the youngest surveyed age group of 45-54 (52.3%, 37.6%), while fewer are oldest sons or daughters (38.3%, 43.5%). More are salaried employees including public employees and part-time workers (56.1%, 40.2%).
2. Characteristics of households
Compared to Tama City, NT households are smaller (average 3.16 persons, 3.33 persons), but have more children (average 2.01 children, 1.92 children). In addition, more NT households have children under age 20 (32.7%, 21.8%), but fewer live with their parents (4.7%, 11.1%). The average NT household income is 7.26 million yen, compared to 7.67 million for Tama City.
3. Residential characteristics
The NT area has more built-for-sale condominiums (36.6%, 18.8%) and public rental apartments (23.4%, 1.7%), but less than half of the single-family owned houses of Tama City (30.6%, 64.1%). The average floor space in the NT area is 86.0 square meters, compared to 102.1 square meters for Tama City.
By age group, the most common types of residences among NT residents are private rental apartments for the 20s (26.8%, 23.1%) age group, public rental apartments for the 30s (20.9%, 3.4%) age group, and built-for-sale condominiums for the 40s (24.3%, 7.7%), 50s (24.2%, 10.9%) and 60s (20.5%, 6.1%) age groups.
4. Residential history
With regard to place of origin (where they lived longest before age 20), more NT residents than Tama residents come from outside of the Tokyo area (48.1%, 39.3%). In addition, more parents of NT residents than Tama City residents live outside of the Tokyo area (59.6%, 33.3%). A larger proportion of NT residents than Tama residents say they came to Tokyo for school or work (34.5%, 25.6%).
Turning to the number of relocations (change of residence), NT residents of all age groups report more relocations than Tama residents, and relocations for both groups decline with age: 20s (1.83, 1.64), 30s (1.34, 1.20), 40s (0.83, 0.83), 50s (0.60, 0.68), and 60s(0.48, 0.37). The main reasons cited for moving are, by age group: marriage−20s (46.0%, 43.6%), work reasons−30s (24.7%, 21.6%) and 40s (24.7%, 15.9%), and lack of space−30s (24.7%, 16.5%) and 40s (20.5%, 11.4%).
(2) Residential Awareness of New Town Residents for Late Life
1. Residential Property and Late Life Planning
NT residents show a strong intention to work in their old age, with a larger proportion planning to work to maintain financial independence in their old age (25.1%, 18.8%). Regarding the workplace, a larger proportion prefers workplaces within easy commuting reach (38.3%, 22.2%), while fewer want to work at home (6.8%, 16.2%).
Regarding the ownership of residential property, NT residents score lower than Tama residents on home ownership (58.4%, 64.4%), inheritance of property from parents (17.1%, 20.6%) and intention to leave property to children (24.5%, 41.2%). In addition, a higher proportion of NT residents feel there is no advantage to home ownership in their old age (23.8%, 12.0%).
2. Residential Awareness in Late Life
In their old age, more NT residents intend to live not with their children (10.8%, 20.7%) but somewhere nearby (41.6%, 30.2%). If they remain healthy, many intend to live in owned single-family homes (41.7%, 70.1%) or condominiums (37.9%, 22.2%) because they are accustomed to these dwellings (42.5%, 42.0%). On the other hand, if they come to require light to moderate care, more NT residents prefer fee-charging homes for the elderly or apartments designed for the elderly (24.7%, 21.4%).
For long-term care in their old age, they strongly prefer at-home care for themselves and for their spouses (for self 54.5%, for spouse 62.8%), with a slight tendency to prefer institutional care for themselves if needed (for self 23.4%, for spouse 15.4%). As for why they choose a particular location to live in their old age, a high proportion cites familiarity with the area (50.5%, 45.4%) or ownership of a home in the area (35.5%, 48.1%). In the NT area, many also cites the rich natural environment (28.6%, 20.4%).