Author: Edson Urano
Ageing and social condition of migrants: the case of Brazilian elderly and their families in Japan
The migration of Brazilians to Japan has completed over 30 years. After experiencing a period of intense work as migrants, part of Brazilians in Japan have joined the elderly population. Despite three decades that have passed, due to their life cycle divided between two distant countries, their safety net is still weak and fragmented in both sides.
This article is an exploratory research on new problems and ambiguities faced by these transnational migrants in old age and will aim to answer the following questions: 1. How has the mode of incorporation to the labour market influenced their subsequent social condition 2. How and to what extent their inclusion in the social security system of both countries could serve as a safety net? The ultimate goal is to identify and analyze the structures of social inclusion and exclusion related to transnational migration and their working life.
The methodology will be based on detailed case studies of workers and their families living in places with large concentration of Brazilians as Hamamatsu city, Shizuoka Prefecture and Joso city, in Ibaraki Prefecture.