How is Japan in such a big pickle with the population shrinking. If an economy is based on a kids being born so they grow and sustain the aging population, how did Japan, a country known for their meticulous approach to everything, got themselves in this situation. For sure they must have seen it coming 20-30 years ago.
What went wrong? If they got it worn, how do we have it right? With the government not providing any kind of meaningful incentives for families to have kids, when will the 24th hour come for the rest of us?
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They definitely knew about it 20 to 30 years ago. This has been discussed since the 80s in Japan and Europe. Japanese are relatively cautious in their approach to implementing policies and they haven’t been able to get ahead of the problem. They just keep falling behind.
The key reasons:
* Japanese are simply having less kids. There are many reasons that varies per person. Common reasons are declining sex drive, commitment to career, lack of wanting to get married or parents not wanting children until they are stable themselves.
* Lack of *effective* government policies to promote children. In some European countries there is extended parental leave, childcare subsidies or government payments. Japan is trying, but that haven’t found the right formula yet.
* Lack of immigration. Japan has relatively stricter immigration rules. Countries like USA (14% are immigrants) and Germany (18% are immigrants) are pro-immigration compared to Japan with 2% immigrants. I’ve seen sources stating the 2% immigrants includes foreign workers of which most won’t be staying in Japan. Getting permanent residency and citizenship in Japan is not easy.
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