ABSTRACT
Widening inequalities are the major consequences of the socio-economic shift to post-growth society. Japan is indeed the cutting edge of transformations to post-growth society. Post-growth society is often problematized by the disappearing or dearth of resources including natural resources, human resources, especially cheap labour supply, as well as ageing and shrinking of the populations. This chapter identifies that housing inequalities existed in many spheres of the society and the emergence of post-growth characteristics accentuated such social divisions among households in terms of housing access, conditions and wealth. The housing access and conditions of older tenants are extremely harsh due to their limited income and the lack of policy measures. In the post-war growth period, egalitarianism was a key social value and thus 'every household' had an opportunity to acquire their own home with the buoyant labour market and rising real incomes. The wealthy olds are often contrasted with the struggling youths in the post-growth economic context.
