Aging is rapidly advancing in Japan, and the mainstream of support for the aged is still "family support". In order to clarify the structure, this problem of "family support" which is a characteristic of our country was examined from the viewpoints of "division of labor by gender" and "the consciousness of 'Ie'" (especially, norm of son's wife), based on various surveys of the actual situation and public conscious-ness.
As a result, it has been made clear that the structure in our country in which support and care for the aged are entrusted to women in the roles of wife and son's wife, has been firmly established, maintained and reproduced in the division of labor by gender and the norm of "Ie". Also, this structure progresses not only in the family but also outside the family (female predominance in volunteer work, for example) and in the area of social productive activities, which shows a deepening of the role as the "care gender". Based on the above considerations; the limits of the present "family support" will be pointed out, and some suggestions will be presented to improve the support and care for the aged in the future.