Market Overview

Size of the home and living assistance services market for FY2023 as a total of major 5 fields (housekeeping service, house-cleaning service, senior/child safety monitoring service, furniture and home-electric appliances rental service, and home security service) is estimated at 563,300 million yen, up by 4.2% from the previous fiscal year.

Thanks to the increasing recognition, the home and living assistance service was not impacted negatively by the COVID-19 crisis. Backed by the rising demand for the services provided in-person at home, there is a great chance that the number of service users multiply exponentially. Considering the circumstances, we project the market size for FY2024 to grow by 9.3% from the preceding fiscal year to 615,800 million yen.

The main feature of home and living assistance services is to provide safety, security, comfort and convenience. They are value-added services aimed at increasing quality of life of customers, and price should not be their number one priority. Service providers are required to develop their services that are relevant to the price they charge on customers, at a fair price.

Noteworthy Topics

Expectations for Governmental/Municipal Support in Forms of Social Welfare and Subsidies

Public subsidies are being promoted for the use of home and living assistance services. In the FY2023 supplementary budget, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has initiated a national subsidy project that promotes the introduction of home and living assistance service as a part of benefits package (welfare support program) for employees at SMEs (the government will pay two-thirds of the usage fees). Meanwhile, some local governments also have started welfare programs, where they provide coupons for citizens to use home and living assistance services.

Technically speaking, household chores like cooking, washing, cleaning, and shopping could be done by individuals, and for that many hesitate to pay for it. Under the circumstances, the government subsidy and public welfare programs are expected to lessen the resistance for using the services by increasing the recognition of home and living assistance services as “services open for everyone”. Together with the promotion by service providers, the market expansion is anticipated.

Future Outlook

Home and living assistance services improve convenience of consumers by directly supporting their daily lives. Although provided by private companies, some services have features that are seen in public services. In fact, some are being promoted by the government and municipalities in the form of subsidy or coupons.

Nonetheless, many of the home and living assistance services rely on manpower. To provide services continually for a long term, in addition to enhancing profitability, service providers need to be robust as a private business to sustain employment conditions for service staffs.

Public support for service usage fees, such as demonstration projects by the national government and subsidy projects by local governments, is expected to promote the services to consumers, and eventually increase the number of users. At the same time, service providers must charge services at fair prices to expand their business.

Research Outline