八王子市におけるサポートネットワークと暮らしの安心の基礎的分析 : 2017年「第2回暮らしの安全と安心に関する市民意識調査」より

Abstract

In recent years, Japanese society has repeatedly experienced serious deprivations caused by natural disasters or socioeconomic inequalities. This has made people realize the importance of social support networks as a form of safety net in their lives. The purpose of this paper is to describe the determinants of people’s sense of security and the distribution of social support networks as well as to examine the relationship between social support networks and people’s sense of security in Hachioji city, Tokyo in 2017. In order to achieve this, a randomized sample survey was carried out in Hachioji city (Security and Support Network Survey 2017, SSNS2017). Statistical analyses using the data from SSNS2017 (N = 1608) led to the following results. First, being female, younger in age, employed, and having a higher household income were found to be positively associated with a greater size and diversity of social support networks. Second, social support networks, being male, and having a higher household income were found to improve people’s sense of security in various areas of their daily life. Finally, the majority of these findings were similar to those found in the SSNS2013 (N = 1163). These results suggest that while social support networks can work as effective safety nets to protect people against poverty or social exclusion, disadvantaged people who tend to have less ties with supportive others may therefore not benefit from these protective buffers.