Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Japan’s annual births fall to record low as population emergency
deepens
The population of the Japanese declined by nearly 900,000 last year to
120 million. While over 1.6 million died, fewer than 700,000 were born. Why were
there so few newborn children? In fact, 1974 was the last year when Japan’s
total fertility rate marked 2.0 or higher. The number has been consistently
falling to 1.50 in 1992, 1.36 in the millennium year, and 1.15 last year. Also,
fewer than 500,000 Japanese couples got married in the last few years. Japan is
one of the East Asian countries, like China and South Korea, whose number of
newborns and population have been declining rapidly. Also, these societies are aging
fast. Nearly 30% of Japan’s population is 65 or older, who are eligible for a pension.
Despite the financial incentives and social support, young people in Japan and these
countries don’t seem to be encouraged to get married or have children. In the meantime,
the number of foreigners living in Japan increased by 337,000 to 3.6 million. They
are young, eager to work, and reproductive. In order to sustain the economy and
society, what matters more is the population than nationality.
Read the article and learn how and why the number of births is
declining so fast in Japan.
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