Japan’s NHK reported on the 13th that as a result of a survey of young people in their late teens in Japan, less than half of the respondents said they would have a child in the future. In Japan, where the low birth rate and aging population are serious, critics say that negative perceptions about childbirth and childrearing are prevalent among the younger generation.
In December last year, the Japan Foundation conducted an internet survey on 1,000 people aged 17 to 19 about their plans for future children. Twenty-three percent of respondents said they would ‘probably never have children’ or ‘never’. When respondents who said they would have a child were asked what the biggest obstacle was to childbirth and childrearing, 69% cited ‘financial burden’ and 54% cited ‘difficulty in balancing work and childrearing’.
Japan has a total fertility rate of 1.30 as of 2021, making it one of the least fertile countries in the world along with Korea (0.81). Last year, an estimate was made that the annual number of newborns fell short of 800,000 in 123 years. Originally, Japan’s National Institute of Social Security and Population Studies expected the number of newborns to be 850,000 in 2022, but the rate of decline accelerated as the trend to avoid marriage and childbirth spread.
Starting this year, Japan has reformed the system so that super-elderly people over the age of 75 can participate in raising funds to pay for ‘maternity and childcare subsidy’. On the 10th, at a cabinet meeting (State Council), the Japanese government decided to pay part of the childbirth and childcare subsidies from the late-stage elderly insurance payments from 2024. Japan is considering giving 500,000 yen (4.82 million yen) to childbirth and childrearing subsidies from April this year, compared to 420,000 yen (4.05 million won) per child until last year. Abolition of the income limit on the child allowance, which is given between 10,000 and 15,000 yen per month for junior high school students and younger, and an increase in the amount of payment are also being considered.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.