In Japan, a rapidly increasing proportion of crime is being committed by people over 65 years old. Per capita, more elderly Japanese are imprisoned today than in the last 20 years and many offenders are repeating the petty crimes that landed them there. Some explain the increase in pensioner crime as a response to insufficient pension pay, while others attribute loneliness and lack of community engagement. But in a recent feature on the BBC, pensioners confessed to seeking prison sentences to live for free.
