Why does Japan still have a declining/low birth rate, even though the Japanese goverment has enacted several nation-wide policies to tackle the problem?
In: 12200
A lowering in birth rate is natural the more first world and stable a society becomes… so it lowering globally in firat world countries isn’t too unusual
Also note; having kids is expensive, people are not stupid and have kids in a country that is built upon discipline and work ethics.
Japanese people are often chronically overworked, and often lack the time for finding said social circles aswell.
So it is pretty much:
– you gotta have the money and stability to even support kids
– the time to even find someone
– the will for kids in this overwhelming lifestyle
– the energy to invest into that.
So many japanese basically go home, maybe do a bit of leisure activity then fall into bed.. not everyone has that time, energy or courage for getting kids… you also have lots of social anxiety due to all of the culture that emerged around japans lifestyle.. we are speaking about a country where people are under so much stress (TW) >!they end it over a failed grade to not be a disgrace to family mind you.!< in such an envoirement anxiety and social awkwardness are common.
In addition to the other problems other people have been listing, demographic issues like this tend to snowball as social programs are largely built to be supported by stable or growing populations, and tend to crumble under their own weight when a country’s population begins to decrease.
When you already have a large population of elderly people that are no longer working and that percentage just keeps increasing, stuff like welfare and healthcare programs begin to weigh heavily on the current workforce, forcing them to work longer hours for the same pay to support pensions and benefits that were promised to the older generation.
Work being too stressful and time consuming, and also not giving you enough spare income to afford supporting kids and buying larger house to raise them is an obvious result.
I saw an interesting program about dating in Japan. There’s quite a bit of intimacy issues and people simply staying single even later in life. Many seem to consider being together as more of a hassle, or simply don’t have the time to spend with a partner. One woman was actually marrying herself so she could have a wedding. Pictures and all , all by herself…
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First world and economically advanced countries all tend to have a dropping birth rates. You need 2.1 children per couple in order to maintain your country’s population. Most first world countries have a birth rate below that. However, most first world and stable countries have enough immigration to keep their populations up despite lower than needed birth rates.
Japan actually has relatively lax immigration laws. However, immigration generally requires speaking and reading Japanese (which relatively few people can) and Japan famously has an anti-non-Japanese attitude in the work place. Additionally, Japanese work culture is famous for being pretty harsh in general, even for Japanese, so all of these tend to lower immigration.
So I suppose your question is actually asking why first world countries in general have lowering birth rates. There are many reasons, some of which include: 1) Lower childhood mortality. This means many couples will only have 1 kid because the chance that one kid will survive is much higher. 2) Ready access to birth control. 3) High expense for child raising. First world countries tend to have relatively higher child rearing costs. 4) Higher likelihood that both parents will be working professionals, thus pressure to have children later in life (after career is more stable) leads to fewer children.
Having a child can really impact a woman’s career there, as well, so many choose not to parent.
My knowledge has to do with South Korea but their problem is even worse than in Japan.
The programs the government passes that try to alleviate the problem are either tackling the wrong problem or is just plain insufficient. In the cities, nobody young enough to have kids can afford to own. The tiny bit they get from the government isn’t nearly enough to change that. Nobody wants to try to raise a family of four or more in some tiny one bedroom.
I’ll answer honestly, it’s because they haven’t.
* They’ve cut “allowances” program (about few hundred dollars a month) for couples with newborn children back in 2012, when there was a major change in the government. It has only been recently re-enacted.
– People were complaining that Japan had shortages of childcare centers so there were a long line of people in the waiting list, but the government still hasn’t done anything about it. Childcare center staff are underpaid.
– Traditional gender roles that men go to work and women do household chores are still alive and well, even though nowadays majority of women work. Among OECD countries Japanese men spend one of the least time with chores and child rearing. Japanese women have to work and on top of that do all the chores and child rearing. Hence Japanese women sleep less and are overworked.
– Men getting paid paternity leave is still uncommon.
– Economic uncertainties about the future like whether they will be able to receive pensions. Real wages in Japan remained stagnant and hadn’t grown in 30 years. It has become too expensive and a luxury to raise a child. To tackle this problem the government raises consumption taxes for the people but decrease taxes for corporations.
– Change to the extremely conservative government with an agenda in 2012 meant that the only thing they thought was needed to tackle the declining population problem was to return to the good old days of traditional Japanese values, but not enacting practical policies that could tackle the problem.
So what does Japan do to tackle the declining population problem? They are doing the exact opposite of what they ought to be doing.
Or more accurately, they are doing nothing and hoping that the problem will go away or solve on its own. They simply don’t really care that much as long as their own “class” of elites can live well off.
None of the policies they have enacted deal with the actual issues.
1. Women don’t want to give up their jobs and be stay at home moms, but they can’t afford child care.
2. Housing costs are insane and many families can’t or can barely afford housing much less the extra rooms.
3. Hours and wages are poor.
4. Kids are expensive.
You see the same issue is the US. Why aren’t there any stay at home moms? Most people can’t afford it. Why are Gen-Z putting off kids? They are still trying to save up to buy a house. 60 years ago a man could graduate from high school get a job and afford to buy a house on one income. Yet conservatives who wish for those days of old aren’t willing to fix the wage and housing issue.
Because the incentives to have kids are still weaker than the reasons not to.
I’ll give you $5 to buy a new car from me at full sticker price.
Nah.
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