Japanese Govt OKs Bill To Fight Falling Birthrate

The Japanese government has given the go ahead to pass a bill that would strengthen measures to tackle the falling birthrate in the country, the Japan Times reported.

The bill seeks to introduce a slew of measures that would encourage couples to have kids.

The sops include raising child benefits to parents and allowing them to enrol children in day-care establishments irrespective of their employment status. The funds for the trip will be generated by raising the medical insurance premiums.

Japan has been facing a major issue of low-birth rates. Last year, the government had proposed raising financial assistance and providing more government subsidies for couples seeking to have children. It also included providing more incentives for higher education and allowing greater access to childcare services.

In 2022, Japan recorded 799,728 newborns, a record low, falling below 800,000 for the first time since surveys began in 1899.

Japan is the fourth-largest economy in the world, but high living costs, slow wage rise are forcing couples to reconsider having children.

About 40% of Japanese are part-time or contract workers and critics say that the government over the years has not been able to make the society more inclusive for children, women and minorities.

Japanese society is generally considered conservative it supports traditional family values and gender roles. Unmarried women and those without children tend to be less respected

In 2013, the then-Japanese PM Shinzo Abe promised to integrate women into the workforce and propel them to high-paying jobs, but the policy did little to solve the economic problems. Though women’s employment has risen, most of the employment is in part-time jobs or contract work.

Among the G7 countries, Japan has the widest gender wage gap where women earn about 75% as much as men for full-time work.

Along with Japan, other countries like Russia are actively asking couple to have more kids.