Rental grandma service growing in Japan, can help cook or break up with boyfriends
As we've seen time and time again, the cost of living is steadily on the rise in Japan, and while it's expected that wages will rise to keep pace, the same may not be true for the elderly living on pensions. Because their monthly allotments are just barely covering the necessities in life, many seniors are seeking work to ensure they have some savings as well.
According to the Statistics Bureau of Japan, there are about 9.3 million people working over the age of 65. This amounts to about one in four seniors remaining in the workforce after retirement age. This all sounds pretty bleak, but one service is seeing this as a positive and regarding the elderly of Japan as a valuable human resource.
▼ See? This guy's totally wired and ready to rock.
The service is called OK Obaachan, and for a fee of 3,300 yen to cover transportation and a 3,300 yen per hour rate, you can have your very own grandma. They currently have a roster of about 100 ladies aged 60 to 94 and with a range of abilities from housework, interpersonal skills, historical knowledge, and life experience.
According to the OK Obaachan website, they have been getting a lot of requests for an incredibly wide range of uses, such as teaching how to cook, mediating family disputes, writing things with nice penmanship, and babysitting. They are often also called upon to act as pillars of emotional support and have been requested by men planning to come out as gay to their parents to be present when it happens. A report by ANN News also interviewed some satisfied clients who used rental grandmothers to be present when breaking up with boyfriends or to help with research for reports that deal with changes in Japanese society over the years.
Reaction to the news was mixed in online comments, which is understandable since it's really hard to process a grandma rental service just after hearing about it.
'I think that's a good business. Sometimes it's good to get advice from people you don't know.'
'I think the effectiveness really depends on the individual though. It seems a little hit-and-miss.'
'The ones going out to breakups should get hazard pay too.'
'I think it's important to feel needed.'
'Do they hire in the countryside? I'm over 60 and am interested.'
'I would be too worried my grandma would fall down or something.'
'All of these people-rental businesses make me uneasy.'
'These days, there are a lot of healthy people in their 60s. They can still do a lot.'
'Poor grandpas… There's no rental service for them.'
The reason that this is a grandma-only service is that it's run by Client Partners, a firm that sets women with different skills up with jobs, calling themselves a 'women-only handyman company.' They also offer rental friends and family members, all of whom are women as well.
For those in the market for some grandpas, a few years back we trialed the Ossan Rental service, which is more loosely defined as 'middle-aged guys' and can include guys in their 30s and 40s too. However, I just popped into their website, and they have many age-appropriate granddads who appear to be among the most popular men for rent.
So, whatever your people needs are, it seems there's a rental agency out there for you. Of course, you could just go out and meet people too, but time is money, so I guess it's all relative.
Source: OK Oba-achan, TV Asahi, YouTube/ANNnewsCH, Ossan Rental
Top image: Pakutaso
Insert image: Pakutaso
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