People are living longer and longer. Apart from the jobs crisis, where it is predicted that more than 50% of the jobs will be taken over by the machines, we also have the aging crisis. That is, a lot more of us will be living in a future where we will have nothing to do.
Taking care of the elderly has already become a big issue, with pension funds drying down and governments the world over facing issues with social security.
Here is a solution that has been tried in Japan that will be of interest to Steemians!
It is called Fureai kippu. This is a Japanese token created in 1995 by the Sawayaka Welfare Foundation so that people could earn credits helping seniors in their community. The token is an hour of service to an elderly person.
For example, for an elderly woman who is finding it hard to read, if you read out the newspaper, you get credit for the number of hours. These tokens add up in your own wallet. Users can use the tokens in exchange for services. Users can also transfer these tokens to others.
From Wikipedia:
"A surprising part of the project has been that the elderly tend to prefer the services provided by people paid in Fureai Kippu over those paid in yen. This may be due to the personal connection. When they surveyed the elderly, it was clear they preferred the people who worked for Fureai kippu over the people who worked for yen because of the nature of the relationship. To convert this community service to yen would seem to dilute the community ethic."
Isn't it great that with something like Steem (or Fureai Kippu) one can hope for a future where elderly care is in safe hands!