A society where no matter how hard you try, it doesn't work,
Polarization or downscaling?
“If you want to get out of the lower class, you must never live by your own standards.
“Wake up.”_[From Seino’s Teachings]

Not only in terms of education, income, and occupation, but also in terms of single young people who have given up on dating, marriage, and childbirth, isolated elderly people, and middle-aged women who shoulder the burden of care.
They are no longer victims of a temporary recession.
The number of people who are structurally stuck 'downstream' and in an irreversible state is increasing.

This book points out that downgrading is not a failure of individuals, but a malfunction of society as a whole.
It also provides a sharp warning that the spread of the lower class is eroding Japan's consumption power, productivity, and even its very future.

"Downstream Society" is a book that reveals the reality of the collapse of social classes and downward mobility through the concept of "downstream," a decisive word that permeates Japanese society.
Author Atsushi Miura demonstrates, through statistics and concrete examples, that a new class is being formed amidst all-round changes in Japan's consumption structure, labor market, and family structure.

Are you a downstreamer? First, let's check your downstream status.
If more than half of the following sentences apply to you, you are quite downtrodden.


1.
Annual income is 100 times your age (e.g., a 30-year-old's annual salary is 30 million won).
2.
I think I want to live each day comfortably.
3.
I think it's good to live my own way.
4.
I want to live my life doing only what I love.
5.
He is the type of person who finds everything bothersome, lives a messy life, and is reluctant to go out.
6.
I like being alone.
7.
He has a quiet and inconspicuous personality.
8.
Fashion sticks to its own style.
9.
Sometimes I feel like eating is too much of a hassle.
10.
I often eat snacks or fast food.
11.
I often spend all day at home watching TV, playing games, or using the internet.
12.
I am single (men 33 years of age or older, women 30 years of age or older).

They say the class gap is widening.
As the income gap widens, it leads to an educational gap, which in turn makes mobility between classes difficult and becomes entrenched.
Furthermore, there are claims that the gap is widening to the point of a 'hope gap'.

---From the "Preface"

The new generation is not a clearly defined demographic generation, and in general, there is no fixed definition of the generation.

---"introduction.
From "Generation Terminology"

Economically, the increase in the elderly population is cited as the biggest factor in the recent widening income gap.
Some analyses suggest that the impact of the introduction of performance-based pay on the widening income gap between those in their 30s and 50s has not yet been clearly confirmed.

---「Chapter 1.
From "From Middle Class to Lower Class"

According to the 2005 results of the "Work Awareness Survey" conducted annually by the Social Economy Productivity Center for new employees, 77.1 percent of all respondents answered, "I feel that I am 'the winner' when it comes to job hunting."
You might wonder why people feel like winners simply because they have a job, but as the employment crisis has become so prolonged, getting a job itself has become an era where a sense of victory is evoked.

---「Chapter 2.
From “Consumer Division Due to Stratification”

Certainly, as discrimination is eliminated and gender equality advances, discrimination against men will disappear.
But instead, the communal identity of women has collapsed, and we have entered an era where individual women are evaluated, chosen, and discriminated against based on all factors, including academic background, personality, and appearance.
Moreover, these academic achievements, personality, and appearance are not achieved solely through individual ability and effort.
These factors are likely to be greatly influenced by the parents' social class.
Discrimination is no longer limited to the distinction between men and women or to the hierarchical structure, but is now expanding to include discrimination among women and discrimination based on the social class of the parents who formed the background of each individual woman.

---「Chapter 2.
From “Consumer Division Due to Stratification”

The current generation of people over 40 years old were poor in their childhood, but as they entered their 20s and 30s, their consumption habits became more affluent and their standard of living improved.
So, even if the work was difficult, I was able to endure it.
Simply put, the carrot and stick worked effectively.
However, the current generation in their 30s, having enjoyed such an affluent life as a child, only realizes that they have less money and time to spend freely once they enter society.
Now that we are entering the age of marriage and childbirth, it is inevitable that our class consciousness will rapidly decline as we cannot be certain that our consumption habits will improve in the future.

---Chapter 3.
From "The downgrading of Dankai Junior continues!"

So, to put it extremely, you could say that in this day and age, there are only two types of people who get married: 1) those who have hope for the future, and 2) those who get married without any hope or plan.

---Chapter 3.
From "The downgrading of Dankai Junior continues!"

If you are over 30 and still single, your class consciousness tends to be lower, and in metropolitan areas where late marriage is prominent, there tends to be more lower-class responses.
---Chapter 3.
From "The downgrading of Dankai Junior continues!"

A 1979 survey found that students with higher self-efficacy aimed for higher academic achievement.
However, a 1997 survey found that students with higher self-efficacy tended to not desire higher academic achievement.
Additionally, this tendency is seen only in students from lower social classes, and students who have present-oriented values ​​such as wanting to enjoy the present rather than think about the future show a stronger sense of self-competence.

---Chapter 5.
Is pursuing one's own identity inferior?

Even if we only associate with people like ourselves, thinking we're all equal and middle class, we risk failing to recognize the growing gap within our own generation.

---Chapter 8.
Is residential fixation based on class occurring?

The wall of fools is built without you even realizing it.
And even after the wall is erected, there is a risk that no one will realize its existence and will indulge in the comfort within it.
The wall of fools may also be the wall of the downstream.

---Chapter 8.
Is residential fixation based on class occurring?