Japanthe world’s third largest economy, faces a worrying drop in its birth rate, with only 350,074 births between January and June 2024.
This represents a 5.7 percent decline compared to the same period last year.
The figure is the lowest in years since 1969, causing concern in the government of Japan and experts.
Japan (YUICHI YAMAZAKI / AFP)
Japanese government warning and future prospects
The Minister of Health in Japan, Keizo Takemiwarned about the critical situation regarding birth rates, pointing out that the next six years will be crucial.
Without immediate action, sectors such as social welfare, education and elderly care could be severely affected.
Therefore, Japan has experienced a population decline for 15 years, and is expected to, By 2070, its population will be reduced by 30 percent.
Baby (Unsplash)
Insufficient efforts to reverse the trend
Despite government policies Japan to increase the birth rate, as a budget of 5.3 billion yen to encourage young familiesthe results have not been as expected.
For this reason, the Prime Minister Fumio Kishida He pledged to double spending on child care, facing criticism for not sufficiently addressing the challenges young people face in raising families.
In this regard, economist Takahide Kiuchi pointed out that the burden of Parenting still falls primarily on womenwhich limits the number of children.
Gender inequalities and factors such as the high cost of living and long working hours further complicate the situation.
Fumio Kishidam, Prime Minister of Japan (EFE)
Aging, another challenge in Japan
Population ageing is another major challenge in Japan.
Currently, the 30 percent of the inhabitants are over 65 years oldwhich puts enormous pressure on pension and health systems.
The above could cause a significant drop in the Gross Domestic Product if productivity is not increased.
2024-09-08 06:55:39