“I Don't Want to be a Burden”: Japanese Immigrant Acculturation and Their Attitudes Toward Non-Family-Based Elder Care

Elder care remains in the family sphere in Japan while elderly Japanese immigrants in the U.S. are actively planning to utilize formal care services.  Although social structural conditions may explain these differences, they do not fully explain “how” Japanese immigrants have developed norms of independent living and utilization of formal care services.  This paper will focus on how Japanese immigrant women’s value acculturation leads to their cultural preference for non-family-based care. They seem to accept the U.S. norms of the independent parent-child relationship and see their children as “other” individuals rather than “inseparable” family members who are obligated to fulfill their filial duty.  This value acculturation may manifest in their preference for independent living, friend-based support, and utilization of formal care services. This ensures their middle aged children’s freedom from filial care duty by showing no expectation of it at all.