Japan ‘on the brink’ over falling birth rate says PM - BBC News

Summary

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has warned that the country's declining birth rate is threatening its future, with fewer than 800,000 births last year compared to over 2 million in the 1970s. Nobuko Kobayashi, a divorced woman in Tokyo, shares why many Japanese women are choosing not to have children, citing financial burdens, career pressures, and competing life priorities. She also highlights the challenges faced by working mothers, including insufficient support and rigid gender roles. While subsidies exist, these issues still prevent many women from balancing family and career, leaving them hesitant about having children.

Takeaways

• 😀 Japan's prime minister Fumio Kishida warns that the country's declining birth rate threatens its future.
• 😀 In 2024, Japan had fewer than 800,000 births, compared to over 2 million in the 1970s.
• 😀 Nobuko Kobayashi, a divorced single woman living in Tokyo, shares her reasons for not having children.
• 😀 Financial burdens, including tuition and after-school costs, are a significant factor for many Japanese women.
• 😀 The timing of having children often conflicts with women's prime career advancement opportunities.
• 😀 Life priorities, including marriage and children, have shifted, with other priorities taking precedence.
• 😀 Lack of childcare support, especially when a husband is not helpful, makes it challenging for women to balance work and motherhood.
• 😀 Full-time working mothers in Japan may receive some childcare support if their employers provide facilities, but many struggle without it.
• 😀 Gender roles in Japan still heavily assign child-rearing and housework responsibilities to women, even if they work full-time.
• 😀 Despite financial subsidies for having children, the challenges of balancing career, life priorities, and childcare remain major hurdles.

Q & A

What warning did Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida give about the country's future?

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned that the declining birth rate is putting the country's future at risk.

How many births did Japan have last year, and how does this compare to the 1970s?

Japan had fewer than 800,000 births last year, which is a sharp decline from more than 2 million in the 1970s.

What are some of the reasons Japanese women, like Nobuko Kobayashi, are choosing not to have children?

Nobuko Kobayashi cites three main reasons: financial burdens due to tuition and after-school costs, the conflict between career advancement and childbearing, and competing life priorities, such as marriage and personal goals.

How does the financial burden impact the decision to have children in Japan?

The high costs of tuition and after-school care make having a child financially burdensome for many people, which is a significant deterrent.

What role does a woman's career play in the decision to delay having children in Japan?

In Japan, the prime time for women to have children coincides with the prime time to advance their careers, so many women delay having children in order to focus on their professional development.

How do life priorities affect the decision to have children in Japan?

Many people today have competing life priorities, and having children is no longer as high a priority as it once was. This shift in priorities leads some to hesitate about starting a family.

What support do women who have children and re-enter the workforce receive in Japan?

The level of support depends on the employer, but full-time working mothers may have access to child care facilities if their employer offers them. Without such support, mothers must juggle child care with their work responsibilities, often with little help from their husbands.

How involved are Japanese husbands in child care and housework?

While more Japanese men are helping with child care, traditional gender roles still place most of the child care and housework burden on women, even if they are working full-time.

What are some of the financial measures being taken to support families in Japan?

There are various subsidies to alleviate the financial burden of raising children, such as medical cost support and one-time subsidies at the time of birth.

What other issues, besides financial support, make having children a challenging decision in Japan?

Even with financial support, challenges like balancing career progression, personal life priorities, and the lack of sufficient child care support at work continue to deter many people from having children.