More senior citizens are picking pockets and shoplifting in Japan to cope with cuts in government welfare spending and rising health-care costs in a fast-ageing society.
Criminal offences by people 65 or older doubled to 48,605 in the five years to 2008, the most since police began compiling national statistics in 1978, a Ministry of Justice report said.
I had to read that twice to make sure that elderly crime had doubled since 2003, not 1978. It would have been no surprises had it doubled since 1978 since absolute number of elderly people has probably doubled since then. But it seems as if Japan is truly seeing a crime wave of sorts from its elderly citizens. From later on in the same article….
“Some elderly, particularly men who lost their wives, even turn to crimes to be put in jail so they can be fed three times a day,” Yamada said.
The whole article is pretty depressing.
Meanwhile, On a different island nation they are dealing with a different problem. From the Telegraph….
Girls as young as 13 will be pressed to have contraceptive jabs under Government plans to “urgently” bring down teenage pregnancy rates.
Ministers have ordered council and health chief executives to increase the uptake of “long-acting” contraception in teen pregnancy “hot spots”.
The government also wants more school-based clinics to administer the jabs, which can make girls infertile for up to three months.
Teenagers can receive the injections or implants without their parents’ knowledge.
Critics warn that the controversial move will promote promiscuity and that injections and implants will not protect against the rampant spread of sexually transmitted disease. Some health experts also say that the drugs are unsuitable for girls who are still growing.
Its a wonderful world.