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New social risks and changing directions in Asian family policy

Family plays an indispensable role in the Asian model of welfare. Jones (1993) uses the term ‘household economy’ to describe how the family shares its resources to satisfy the needs of its members. Although in recent years the public sector’s contribution to welfare provision in various Asian societies has increased, family members remain a very significant source of welfare (Chan 2003). The pattern of intra-familial redistribution is built upon values of mutual commitment (e.g. filial piety) arising from a stable family structure. Therefore, any challenge to these values and this stability will have a negative effect on the family’s fulfilment of these duties. Scholars have argued, however, that families in various Asian societies are already facing such challenges. In this special issue, we analyse four of the most advanced economies in Asia: Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong. There are macroand micro-level causes of the challenges to family welfare provision. Bonoli argues that the macro socio-economic transformations that brought post-industrial societies into existence (particularly, the tertiarization of employment and the massive entry of women into the workforce) present new social risks for families. He maintains that, in addition to the risks associated with employment and financial security (such as ‘possessing low or obsolete skills’ and ‘insufficient social security coverage’), new social risks have arisen as a result of difficulties in reconciling work and family obligations, single parenthood and care for the elderly (2006). Table 1 shows the increase in female participation in the labour market. A comparison of data from 1980 with that from 2007 shows significant changes, though the situation has stabilized in the past decade. The primary reason for the recent stabilization is not lack of progress but the decrease in the labour force participation rate (LFPR) of women aged 15–24 as a result of better educational opportunities. Though different places exhibit different patterns, statistics show women have higher LFPR when they are young and tend to withdraw from the labour market when they have children. Some choose to return to work when their children are grown. Women’s desire to have higher participation in labour market has inevitably led to a decrease in the fertility rate (see Table 2). At present, the fertility rate is even lower than that of the most advanced economies in the West. As a result of the decline in the fertility rate, there is an increasing percentage of seniors (see Table 3). Although there are fewer young children for adults to look after, there is an increasing number of frail and very elderly people who require care.