Childbirth cost insurance applied, all childcare families can use the daycare center
Kishida “Until the 2030s is the last chance to reverse the low birth rate trend”
The Japanese government announced that it would secure an additional budget of 3.5 trillion yen (about 35 trillion won) per year for the next three years as a countermeasure against the low birth rate and implement a child allowance expansion policy in 2024. A detailed plan for securing financial resources is expected to be finalized by the end of the year.
The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on the 2nd that the Japanese government presented a draft of the children’s future strategy policy to realize a different level of low birth rate measures based on these contents at the 5th meeting of the Children’s Future Strategy Meeting held at the prime minister’s official residence the day before.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who served as the chairman, emphasized at the meeting that finances for countermeasures against low fertility should be secured, “first of all, through thorough expenditure reform, etc.” He also expressed a sense of crisis, saying, “Until the 2030s, when the young population is rapidly declining, this is the last chance to reverse the low birth rate trend (trend).”
In this draft, it was stated that there would be no tax increase, such as consumption tax, in order to raise financial resources, and the goal was to ‘conduct a thorough expenditure reform so that no additional burden (to the people) is practically created’. In addition, with the increase in social insurance premiums in mind, a new “subsidy system (tentative name)” was proposed to support the child-rearing generation in society as a whole.
Stable financial resources were stipulated as “to be secured until 2028,” and in case of insufficient financial resources in the meantime, it was stipulated that “children’s special bonds will be issued.”
The establishment of a special account called ‘Children’s Safe’, which manages child-related budgets in a unified way, was also included in the countermeasures against low birth rates. Special public bonds are also issued and managed in this special account.
As for the timing of achieving the ‘doubling of the child-related budget’ set forth by Prime Minister Kishida, he set the goal of realizing it ‘by the early 2030s’.
As for concrete measures to counteract the low birth rate, the child allowance expansion policy was stipulated as one axis. The income limit will be abolished and the target of payment will be expanded from middle school students to high school students. The payment for the first and second children is 15,000 yen (approximately 150,000 won) per month for children aged 0 to less than 3 years old, and 10,000 yen (approximately 100,000 won) per month for children aged 3 to high school. After the third child, all children aged 0 to high school students pay 30,000 yen (about 300,000 won) per month.
It is stipulated that the introduction of insurance coverage for childbirth costs will be reviewed with the goal of 2026. From 2024, the eligibility of “benefit-type scholarships” that do not require tuition reduction or reimbursement will be expanded to households with multiple children and students in science, engineering or agriculture (up to about 6 million yen per household annual income).
A new “daycare system for all children (tentative name)” will be established so that all families with children can use the daycare center.
This strategic policy will be decided at the next meeting and reflected in the basic policy of economic and fiscal management and reform to be summarized in the middle of this month.
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.