Factors in Lifestyle Changes

To analyze the future of lifestyles, we first summarized the phenomena that are likely to affect society.

As the pursuit of economic efficiency falters and globalization advances, society is becoming more unequal; that is, the prosperous middle class is in decline. In the future, it is likely that the effects of a decreasing population, computerization, etc. will lead to greater diversity in people's values and lifestyles.

When investigating the possibilities of lifestyle changes becoming mainstream, we found that effects broadly divided into "the four risk factors" and "personal values". The four risk factors are health, finance, communities/personal relationships, and security.

People have to make decisions about how they can realize lifestyles that will match their own values and wishes in the future; also, they are pressured by concern about their vulnerability to unexpected risks. We are entering an era in which people have increased responsibility for dealing with risks and are worried about their ability to cope with risks.