Abstract
Investment in education is a public expenditure that provides long-term benefits, such as infrastructure investment. The impact of population aging on education spending theoretically has both positive and negative effects. This chapter analyzes the impact of population aging on education spending using Japanese prefectural data. Unlike infrastructure-related and education investments, spending on welfare has no long-term benefits. Thus, as the population ages, the elderly might likely favor increased expenditures on social welfare and elderly welfare, leading to an increase in these expenditures. We use Japanese prefectural data to analyze the impact of aging on expenditure on social welfare and elderly welfare, besides education expenditures. Furthermore, we empirically analyze public assistance expenditures that are unlikely to offer long-term benefits, such as social welfare and welfare expenditures for the elderly.
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Notes
- 1.
Expenses for social education facilities established under local government ordinances within the jurisdiction of the board of education and expenses for social education activities conducted by the board of education (including athletics, cultural activities, and protection of cultural properties).
- 2.
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, “2019 White Paper on Local Government Finances (Heisei 31-nendo-ban chihō zaisei hakusho)”.
- 3.
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s document from the investigative commission on the development of new methods to verify public assistance standards, “Summary of the public assistance system (Seikatsu hogo seido no gaiyō-tō ni tsuite)”.
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Terai, K., Glazer, A., Miyazato, N. (2021). Effects of Aging on Education and Welfare Expenditures in Japan. In: The Political Economy of Population Aging. Advances in Japanese Business and Economics, vol 30. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5536-4_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5536-4_3
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