It’s ‘now or never’ to reverse Japan’s population crisis, prime minister says

Pedestrians walk along a street in Tokyo's Ginza district on December 29, 2022. PHOTO/COURTESY:CNN
Japan’s prime minister issued
a dire warning about the country’s population crisis on Monday, saying it was
“on the brink of not being able to maintain social functions” due to the
falling birth rate.
In
a policy address to lawmakers, Fumio Kishida said it was a case of solving the
issue “now or never,” and that it “simply cannot wait any longer.”
“In
thinking of the sustainability and inclusiveness of our nation’s economy and
society, we place child-rearing support as our most important policy,” the
prime minister said.
Kishida
added that he wants the government to double its spending on child-related programs,
and that a new government agency would be set up in April to focus on the
issue.
Japan
has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, with the Ministry of Health
predicting it will record fewer than 800,000 births in 2022 for the first time
since records began in 1899.
The
country also has one of the highest life expectancies in the world; in 2020,
nearly one in 1,500 people in Japan were age 100 or older, according to
government data.
These
trends have driven a growing demographic crisis, with a rapidly aging society,
a shrinking workforce and not enough young people to fill the gaps in the
stagnating economy.
Experts
point to several factors behind the low birth rate.
The
country’s high cost of living, limited space and lack of child care support in
cities make it difficult to raise children, meaning fewer couples are having
kids. Urban couples are also often far from extended family who could help
provide support.
Attitudes
toward marriage and starting families have also shifted in recent years, with
more couples putting off both during the pandemic.
Some
point to the pessimism young people in Japan hold toward the future, many
frustrated with work pressure and economic stagnation.
Japan’s
economy has stalled since its asset bubble burst in the early 1990s. The
country’s GDP growth slowed from 4.9% in 1990 to 0.3% in 2019, according to the
World Bank.
Meanwhile,
the average real annual household income declined from 6.59 million yen
($50,600) in 1995 to 5.64 million yen ($43,300) in 2020, according to 2021 data
from the country’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The
government has launched various initiatives to address the population decline
over the past few decades, including new policies to enhance child care
services and improve housing facilities for families with children.
Some
rural towns have even begun paying couples who live there to have children.
Shifting
demographics are a concern across other parts of East Asia, too.
South
Korea recently broke its own record for the world’s lowest fertility rate, with
data from November 2022 showing a South Korean woman will have an average of
0.79 children in her lifetime – far below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable
population. Japan’s fertility rate stands at 1.3, while the United States is at
1.6.
Meanwhile,
China’s population shrank in 2022 for the first time since the 1960s, adding to
its woes as it struggles to recover from the pandemic.
The
last time its population fell was in 1961, during a famine that killed tens of
millions of people across the country.
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