• Japan has a population change rate of -0.3%
• This is a combination of a low birth rate and an ageing population

Low Birth Rate

• The fertility rate in Japan is 1.4 births per woman, well below the fertility replacement rate of 2.1
• The birth rate is 7 per 1000 people
• The reasons for the low birth rate include: CAMEJ
  • Increasing numbers of women focusing on careers and delaying having children
  • Inability to afford to buy/rent own home (70% of unmarried people live with their parents)
  • Declining marriage rate and increase in average age people get married (women 29.5 years, men 31 years)
  • Economic insecurity - jobs are not as secure due to Keiretsu's business model
  • The expense of children is high due to childcare costs

Ageing population

• The death rate has increased in Japan from a low of 6 per 1000 in 1982 to 11 per 1000 in 2020
• One-third of the population is over 60 years old
  • Older people are more likely to become unwell and die
  • The more elderly the population, the higher proportion of people will die
• Shortage of workers
  • With increasing numbers of the population being retired there are not enough workers to replace them
  • There is predicted to be a shortage of 380,000 workers for elderly care by 2025
  • Closure of some services
• Higher taxes
  • An ageing population puts more pressure on health service and pension payments
  • Taxes have to be increased to pay for healthcare and pensions
• School closures
  • Fewer children mean that schools and childcare facilities may close with the loss of jobs
• Economic stagnation
  • The economy does not grow due to a lack of workers and the closure of businesses and industry
  • Standard of living does not improve or falls

Solutions

• Development of robots to help with elderly care such as in the Shin-tomi nursing home in Tokyo
• Immigration laws were revised in 2018 to attract foreign workers and help with the worker shortage
  • The aim is to attract 340,000 new workers
• The Angel Plan was a five year plan in 1994 to increase the birth rate, followed by the New Angel Plan in 1999 and Plus One Policy in 2009 these all aimed to encourage people to have children by;
  • Improving the work environment to fit with family responsibilities
  • Maternity leave on near full pay for 20 weeks for the first child to 40 weeks or more for the third child
  • Better childcare services
  • Better housing for families
  • Improved education facilities
  • 30% fare reduction on all public transport for three-child families.
• Plus One Proposal is the most recent policy and aims to increase 'parent-friendly' working and the construction of 50,000 new daycare facilities
• Financial incentives →
  • Child allowance - Monthly pay to families with children - 50 USD
  • Birth allowance - Lumpsum when a child is born - 250 USD
  • Tax incentives - Deduction in income tax for child-raising costs by 10%
• Immigration → Policies to encourage more foreign workers to come to Japan.