Japan's population suffers biggest fall in history

[aaaaaa5a]

The population across the Japanese archipelago dropped by around 284,000 to an estimated 127.5 million by October last year, the figures compiled by the government's Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry found.

The number of elderly people aged 65 or over surpassed 30 million for the first time, accounting for as much as 24 per cent of the population – in contrast to children aged 14 and under which decreased to a record low of 13 per cent.

A dwindling birthrate, with deaths continuing to outnumber baby arrivals, combined with the postwar baby boom generation reaching retirement age as well as strict immigration laws are factors fuelling the declining population.

Japan's government faces taking strong measures to tackle the consequences of its ageing society, with a sharp rise in welfare costs and medical care demands forecast in coming years combined with a drop in workforce and national tax revenues.


Full article here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/9999591/Japans-population-suffers-biggest-fall-in-history.html

[Xipe Totec]

1. This is a good thing, right?

In the end we want to stabilize and perhaps reduce world population to a sustainable level.

Getting there will be hard work.

[GReedDiamond]

3. Obviously, Japan is not adding to the "world population"...

...as you seemed to have missed the whole point of the article.

My girlfriend is proudly Japanese, she is a caregiver to elderly Japanese here in the Los Angeles area, and the potential death of her historical culture reflects the passing of her clients.

It is sad, and tragic, not something to be cheered on.

[LiberalFighter]

2. Suffers?

You would think it would be a good thing with it reducing the drain on their resources.

[aaaaaa5a]

4. Its actually not a good thing if population decline is because of

an uneven balance between young and old.

As a society ages, production decreases. And the need for welfare, medical and other social services increases.

This is bad for society. In Japan, when nearly a quarter of the population is elderly, that's not good. Japan is in decline. And these killing demographics are really going to hurt Japan's economy in the coming years. There are just not enough young people to pay for the needs of the elderly population.

[SoCalDem]

6. It's not surprising to me. Pre-60's people had no reliable birth control

so of course they often had larger families, but as modernity crept into our lives, why on earth would responsible young adults living in closet-sized apartments , even want to have large families? Many Japanese young adults cannot even afford to live away from their parents...

If societies cannot aid younger people with their children, it's not surprising to me that many people in Japan decided to either have no children or to have very small families they could afford to house , feed & raise.

[Art_from_Ark]

7. Japan provides lots of subsidies and deductions for young children

Of course, there is an income tax deduction. But there is also "jidou-teate", which is a subsidy payment made to most families that have children of up to a certain age (6th grade, I think, but it could have changed). There is also dental care for kids that is free or at a greatly reduced price, and probably general health care as well. Children also qualify for discounts for transportation and other things.

However, one of the problems with raising children in Japan is that it requires an incredible amount of money to raise a child to the age of majority, which in Japan is 20 years old. A lot of that is due to education fees, which usually include private tutorial schools, which can be quite expensive. If parents end up sending their kids to a private junior high and/or high school, the tuition can be as high or even higher than university tuition. For example, a local international school charges the equivalent of $20,000 in tuition a year for high school students.

And then, there is the incentive. When a Japanese couple have kids, the mother usually takes charge of everything and focuses her life around the kids, while the father gets pushed off to the periphery. By the time the kids get into junior high or high school, dad's role in the family is little more than a steady source of money. One of my Japanese friends recently reported to me that roughly 30% of Japanese men in their 30s are single.

[SoCalDem]

8. It sounds like a dreary way to live..

For the modest earners at least .. I love to watch House Hunters Intl and whenever they do a show in Japan, it's frightening what teeny little places cost..and how crowded it all seems..

[Art_from_Ark]

11. That's probably one reason why so many Japanese men are single

The prospect of working hard but handing over nearly the entire paycheck to mama-san and the kids while getting little in return, does not sound all that appealing to an increasing number of Japanese men.

The price of housing depends on the location, of course. Housing in the large cities-- Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka, Kyoto, etc.-- is going to be cramped and expensive, but used houses out in the suburbs are fairly reasonable, at least compared to Southern California. For example, a modest two-story house in Tsuchiura, a city that is on a main train line that leads into Tokyo, can be had for around $150,000, although it is still small by most American standards. Occasionally, magazines will run articles about fairly large houses way out in the country that can be had for $100,000 or even less.

[sakabatou]

5. Hmm... is it due to societal pressure?

[Bucky]

9. This is happening in Europe too. We're gonna start competing for immigrants.

This is a global trend. If it weren't for immigration, US birthrates would be heading in the same direction.

[davidpdx]

10. Korea is having a very similar problem

Birth rate of 1.2 in 2010 with 2.1 needed to sustain the population. More families are having only one child by choice because of economic constraints.

The good news is Korea has a pretty good immigrant population, 1.2 million foreigners in 2010 which is suppose to increase to 2.53 million in 2020, and 4 million by 2050 (which might be a conservative estimate). An increase in the number of foreign marriages and children from multicultural families. Still the population could fall as low as 40 million by 2050.