Japan In Crisis As Population Fall Could Make the Country "Disappear" | Vantage with Palki Sharma

and now let's look at Japan while we still can apparently because the way they're going the country might disappear that's what an aid of the Japanese prime minister said she said Japan is disappearing because of its population crisis the country has announced record low number of births in 2022 it was just half the number of deaths last year Japan's population shrunk by about eight lakh people eight hundred thousand it's about shrinking and aging the country is heading towards an economic catastrophe the government plans major policy initiatives their budget to revive the population is more than their record high defense budget and that should tell you something about how critical the situation is here's a report Japan's population is declining but that's not the news it's the rate at which it's declining that's making headlines Japan recently published data showing that the births in 2022 were less than eight hundred thousand it's a level Japan wasn't supposed to reach till 2030. and the birds amounted to half of the deaths last year this means Japan's population shrunk by about 800 000. it has caused an aid to the Japanese prime minister to declare that the country may disappear in recent weeks the population crisis has been on everyone's mind Japanese prime minister fumio kishuda has said that the time to address the crisis was Now or Never he has vowed to double the expenditure on Children and Families a new government agency to focus on the crisis will be set up in April first let's look at the numbers the birds last year fell below 800 000. this is the lowest since data collection started in 1899. for context births in the 1970s were over 2 million the fertility rate has fallen to 1.3 far below the 2.1 needed for a stable population both the birth rate and the population have been declining for years now researchers say the population could fall to as low as 53 million by the end of the century why is this happening firstly raising a child is expensive especially in Japan where child care costs have increased but the economy has mostly been stagnant since the early 1990s wages have gone down in Japan in real terms then there's urbanization cities have limited space and a lack of child care support another factor is Japan's rejection of immigrants countries like Canada and Australia encourage immigration to bolster their Workforce but Japan has historically been averse to migrants it has struck a blow to Japan's demography but why is Japan's population crisis so cute after all neighboring Nations like China and South Korea and even many Western countries have low birth rates China even saw its population decline last year for the first time since the 1960s the difference lies in Japan's demography it is the second oldest nation in the world after tiny Monaco about 29 of its population is 65 or above the average age in Japan is about 49 and it keeps increasing it's this impending demography an abundance of the old and a dearth of the young which is poised to destroy Japan's economy the government's plan so far have been criticized as short-sighted they involved tax breaks for families or proposals like student loan waivers to working women with children these policies fail to incentivize having big families outside urban areas the government has also been called ridiculous like when a lawmaker recently suggested that the lack of children isn't due to the high cost of living in Japan but because young people aren't good lovers he suggested carrying out a survey to determine the Citizen's romantic ability but the lawmaker also hinted that Japan's conservative Society where romance before marriage is taboo might be a problem whatever the reasons Japan's population situation is dire researchers say this decade is crucial in getting Japan back on track the government needs to focus all its energies into bringing about a baby boom if not Japan could be headed to a long great Twilight before the nation disappears

Channel: Firstpost

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Id: Js3lOA1Fat0

Length: 5min 6sec (306 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 06 2023