Exploring the Impact of the Japanese Long-Term Care Insurance Act on the Gendered Stratification of the Care Labour Market Through an Analysis of the Domiciliary Care Provided by Welfare Non-Profit Organisations

Japan's implementation of the Long Term Care Insurance Act in 2000 provides a good example with which to examine the restructuring process of care services for older people, as these have come to be commodified by the welfare state. By focusing on Welfare Non-Profit Organisations provision, this article explores the significance of gender in the restructuring process. It reveals that care services are stratified with institutional care placed at the top of hierarchy of care services costs, and domestic task services at the bottom. There is an unequal distribution of gender and organisational type for each type of care work.