reader Posted January 23, 2023 Posted January 23, 2023 From Thai PBS World Japanese Prime minister Fumio Kishida pledged on Monday to take urgent steps to tackle the country’s declining birth rate, saying it was “now or never” for one of the world’s oldest societies. Japan has in recent years been trying to encourage its people to have more children with promises of cash bonuses and better benefits, but it remains one of the most expensive places in the world to raise a child, according to surveys. Births plunged to a new record low last year, according to official estimates, dropping below 800,000 for the first time – a watershed moment that came eight years earlier than the government had expected. That most likely precipitated a further population decline in a country where the median age is 49, the highest in the world behind only the tiny city-state of Monaco. “Our nation is on the cusp of whether it can maintain its societal functions,” Kishida said in a policy speech at the opening of this year’s parliamentary session. Japan is the third-most-expensive country globally to raise a child, according to YuWa Population Research, behind only China and South Korea, countries also seeing shrinking populations in worrying signs for the global economy. Other countries are also coming to grips with ageing and shrinking populations. Last week, China reported that its population dropped in 2022 for the first time in 60 years. Quote
PeterRS Posted January 24, 2023 Posted January 24, 2023 Yawn! Yawn! Every Japanese Prime Minister has been saying all this for more than the last 2 decades! Governments have tried various means to stimulate marriage and procreation, but they never work. It is not merely an issue of the cost of raising a child. It is much more a desire on behalf of the younger generation either to put off marriage until their mid-30s or just to remain single. Used until recently to working horribly long hours and having only a week of vacation each year, this generation has realised there is a lot more to llife and they want the time and cash to enjoy it before settling down. As many economists have proposed, what Japan needs desperately is to open its doors to many more skilled workers from other countries. This it consistently refuses to do. The country's insular mentality remains all pervasive in the corridors of power. Quote
fedssocr Posted January 26, 2023 Posted January 26, 2023 I was just watching a video the other day about all of the empty houses in Japan. I would imagine that it's already far too late for the population. I agree that lack of immigration is a problem. And it's a problem in many places with aging populations that are working hard to keep out people who might help save their countries. Quote
PeterRS Posted January 26, 2023 Posted January 26, 2023 59 minutes ago, fedssocr said: I was just watching a video the other day about all of the empty houses in Japan. I would imagine that it's already far too late for the population. I agree that lack of immigration is a problem. And it's a problem in many places with aging populations that are working hard to keep out people who might help save their countries. I would love to see that video, if only to find out what type of housing remains empty and, more particularly, where it is located. Like many countries it is a fact that younger Japanese want to move to the bigger cities. I cannot believe there is much empty housing in Tokyo or Osaka. Far more likely it will be in the countryside, I'd suggest. If that is the case, Japan will not be very different from many countries. The other point about Japan is that it has been impossible for many young people to find ways of purchasing their own apartments, no matter how tiny these may be. Owning a home is still an ambition of most Japanese but many younger ones are stuck living with their parents. Then there are the blinkered predictions by property developers. As nippon.com pointed out in an article two months ago, the new buildings that are being constructed are to a large extent way out of the price range of most Japanese. In 2021 the average cost of a new 70 sq. m. condominium near central Tokyo was ¥85.57 million - US$660,000 today but around 20% more in US$ terms when the surey was carried out in 2021. Move way out into the sprawling suburbs and the cost comes down to ¥64.75 million, but you will likely be stuck with a 90 minutes commute twice a day. The rising price of new properties inevitably results in rising prices for second hand apartments. And with more and more of these luxury-type properties being built, the average Japanese is basically shut out of the housing market. Nippon.com also points out that developers are building many large housing developments on rural land that is prone to flooding. There are few regulations about construction on formerly agricultural land. With natural disasters on the increase, flooding of 3 meters is not uncommon. A final point made in the article is the reluctance of developers to knock down older housing stock as they build newer stock. Japan is therefore the opposite of somewhere like Hong Kong which routinely demolishes older housing as new housing is developed. Kyoto is one of the few Japanese cities considering the intruction of a vacant house tax but no one yet knows how successful this might be. https://www.nippon.com/en/in-depth/d00835/ Quote
caeron Posted January 26, 2023 Posted January 26, 2023 Japan hasn't much changed as far as I can tell since I lived there in the mid-80s. It is stuck in its past of imaginary greatness and can't even begin to contemplate the changes necessary for the country not to rot out from within. It's a pity, but it's a situation entirely of their own making. The LDP has been in charge forever and done nothing, and still they keep getting re-elected. The nation would rather die than change, so death it is. On the plus side, I see a lot of reasonably priced guys so maybe I will stop over on my next asian trip and try to bang the rust off my Japanese. Quote
