Japan's declining birthrate and aging population appear unstoppable.
The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced that the total birth rate for 2023 was 1.20, the lowest ever recorded.
The figure of 0.99, which is below 1 for the first time in Japan, is particularly shocking in Tokyo.
However, the countermeasures offered by the Japanese government are all out of focus, such as childcare support payments, elimination of waiting lists for childcare centers, and reforms in the way people work.
Do you know about the real cause of unabated decline in the birth rate?
The graph above shows the trends in Japan's total birth rate and national burden rate since 1970.
The total birth rate, which was over 2.0 in 1970, has been steadily declining and has finally dropped to 1.20, half of what it was 50 years ago.
On the other hand, the national burden ratio is the ratio of the total amount of taxes and social security contributions to national income.
In 1970, the rate was 24.3%, and although it has dropped slightly in 2023, it will almost double to 48.4% in 2022.
Even if people work hard, nearly half of their income will be taken away by taxes and insurance premiums.
Furthermore, people's lives are becoming increasingly difficult due to rising prices caused by cost-push inflation and soaring electricity and other costs caused by a surcharge on renewable energy.
This will be demonstrated by the fact that the lifetime unmarried rate (“at age 50”), which was a few percent for both men and women in 1970, will jump to 28.3 percent for men and 17.8 percent for women in 2022.
For further discussion, please see the report “Japanese Manufacturing Industry: A Winning Opportunities,” which describes a prescription for reviving the Japanese economy.
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