J A PA N

ANDIT'S
I M P L E M E N TAT I O N
F O R P O P U L AT I O N
GROWTH
 Objectives:
• To examine the size of the
population currently in Japan
• To explore the measures and
Click to add text implementations being made to
increase the population growth of
Japan

This Photo by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC.

 Introduction
 Japan is known worldwide for its traditional arts, religious
beliefs and cultures including tea ceremonies, calligraphy
and flower arranging. The country has a legacy of
distinctive gardens, sculpture and poetry. Japan is home to
more than a dozen UNESCO World Heritage sites and is
the birthplace of culinary arts such as( sushi,sagiri sashimi)
and relatively easy place to live and explore in terms of
tourism .However, in this beautiful country,lies the
demographic problems.It's population is rapidly  aging  at
30% for individuals over 65 and its birth rate is on the
decline, a problematic trend given that population size has
historically equated to power. Now, the future of the
countries’ economic, military, and governance partnership
could be at stake. In restrospect,there are majority of
elderly people and a reduced amount of young people and
this is causing decrease in tax revenue and a countries GDP.
• Japan has experienced two fertility transitions. 
• The first, a decline to the replacement level of about 2.1 children per woman
shortly after World War II, and the second, a decline since the mid-1970s to
very low rates of 1.3 to 1.4 children per woman. According to Japan's latest
official population projection, the country's population is projected to decrease
from 128 million in 2010 to 87 million by 2060, when roughly 40 per cent of
the population will be age 65 and above. While the first fertility transition was
due primarily to declining rates of childbearing among married couples, the
second transition has been strongly associated with decreasing rates of
marriage. It now looks like substantial numbers of Japanese women and men
will never marry or have children. As of 2010, 11 per cent of women and 20
per cent of men at age 50 had never been married.
What is causing population decline
• The use of “marriage package” that is particularly unattractive for young women The
persistence of the traditional gender division of labour in Japanese marriages places
heavy obligations on women for household maintenance and childcare. Wives’ and
husbands’ average housework hours per week by wives’ weekly employment
hours.Apart from household tasks, parenting in Japan tends to be particularly
intensive, and it is overwhelmingly the mother who is responsible for looking after
children and making sure they succeed in the highly competitive education system. In
2009, Japanese wives at reproductive ages spent an average of 27 hours per week on
household tasks, while husbands spent only 3 hours per week. Roughly 60 per cent of
these wives were employed, and about one half of those who were employed worked
35 hours or more per week. Given that many of these employed wives were also
mothers, they undoubtedly faced difficulties in balancing their work and family
responsibilities
• The persistence of the traditional gender division of labour in Japanese
marriages places heavy obligations on women for household
maintenance and childcare and thus perpetuates  reduces the birth rate
and population in Japan.
 Treatments were made to help subsidize fertility
issues in Japan,through vitro fertilization and micro-
fertilization, in which sperm is implanted into an
ovum under a microscope, are not covered by the
public health insurance system

Solutions
The Government has also implemented a succession
of programes designed to provide more childcare
services and encourage the workplace to become
more family friendly. The number of places available
in daycare centres and the number of children
enrolled have both increased since 2000, but the
number of children on waiting lists has also gone up.
The use of immigration and job applications and opportunities to bring
immigrants from abroad support the labour force.

Japan plans to boost its tumbling birth rate by funding artificial

intelligence matchmaking schemes to help residents find love and boost
fertility

Launched in 1972, a child allowance scheme initially covered third and

higher-order children in households with incomes below a certain threshold.
The duration of payment was from a child’s birth to graduation from junior
high school. Since then, although still income tested, the scheme has been
expanded to cover first and second births.However it is still relatively low
compared to other countries.
References
• https://www.un.org/en/development/desa/population/events/pdf/expert
/24/Policy_Briefs/PB_Japan.pdf
• https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55226098 
• https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/japans-population-problem
• This policy brief was prepared as background material for the United
Nations Expert Group Meeting on Policy Responses to Low Fertility.
It can be found online at http://esa.un.org/PopPolicy/publications.aspx.
Queries  to PopPolicy@un.or