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11-20-2010, 03:26 AM
I agree with Nyororin that one of the main factors is money. From my own observations and experience I'd make the following comments.
Japan does very little in my opinion to assist young families. Tax breaks and family assistance payments are minimal. Minimal when you consider that the low birth rate is such a recognised issue. Overall the economy in Japan is in a shambles and not getting any better. The low birth rate and aging population is not helping one bit. Average pay has actually been declining and job security is not what it once was. Minimum wage here is really very low and barely provides a livable income. There are many working poor in Japan. The government does provide a payment after a birth that generally covers most of the costs of the birth (assuming there were no complications).There is paid maternity leave here but it is only for 6 weeks before the birth and 8 weeks after (assuming you have insurance). There is quite a lot of pressure on women to not continue working after giving birth (whether that be direct pressure in the workplace or just general societal and cultural norms) and as one of the articles above stated if they try and get back into the workforce it's usually not possible to just pick up and continue with the career they may previously have had. They often find themselves in part time or casual positions earning little more than minimum wage which barely covers the cost of daycare. Costs of education and raising kids is not cheap and when you are often losing a full time wage out of the relationship after the wife stops working it really isn't easy. Having more than one kid can make it really very difficult. For there to be another baby boom in this country the economy would really have to turn around. But of course that's really difficult with such an aging population and low birth rate. I believe Japan really needs to open up it's borders and have a comprehensive immigration program for skilled workers. I can't see any other solution unless they are prepared to make some major changes to things to make it easier for families to have more children. 
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11-20-2010, 07:28 AM
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150 million people on a bunch of islands that small? In the short term it will hurt economically. In the long term it will benefit environmentally.
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11-20-2010, 10:09 AM
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11-20-2010, 01:14 PM
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many of the comments remind me of us in the UK. couples having to work to survive. It is not easy at all and child care is extremely expensive. there used to be AU PAIRs that were paid a set amount to live with a family and look after the children whilst parents were working. Mydaughter had several AU Pairs when the children were young--- still remaining friends with those girls even now. I believe that the worry is that there will not be enough young people to care for the older generations--- I used to hear that Japanese families were very close and the gr parents lived with their families all together.
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11-20-2010, 02:45 PM
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I think the problem of many young people taking care of the old is exaggerated though. It just means governments are going to have to increase spending in that area.
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11-20-2010, 03:44 PM
Hm, I don't know why, but the OP of this thread just seems to scream "troll" to me. Most everything he's posted has been nonsense as well as stupid.
Some women just don't want to have kids. Could be for personal reasons. Some may not want to for financial ones because it is expensive to have kids and raise them. If in the situation, I'd want to know I was financially able to support a kid before popping one out. But in Japan's case, I really really feel this is the reason, too expensive and how more families are starting to need two incomes to get by as opposed to the past when surviving off of one income was okay. That aside, I'm one of those who really don't want to physically have kids. I also said years ago that if I don't settle before the age of 30, I don't want to have any at all and I've never been interested in marriage, which is probably another reason why I'm kind of apathetic to the whole "settling down to have a family" thing. I'm too impatient, I feel, for a husband, and yet, I have lots of patience with kids.
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11-20-2010, 06:23 PM
I fail to see why there is such a debate over this issue like a think tank needs to be put together to determine the answer. Its not as complex as some are making it out to be. I gave two very useful links on the first page and there is a ton of information on the web that explains in detail why Japan's birthrate is continuing to fall. Plus Nyororin who lives in Japan and is married to a Japanese man and has a child gave her first person answer.
Also, western nations birthrate is also falling but not at the rate as Japans. Italy for one has a very low birthrate even the UK and the US birthrate is falling. The reason being people are waiting to get married and having children later and even then they are not having a ton of kids. It is not necessary to have a huge family anymore and in some cases like Japan inconvenient. The baby boomers in the US are getting ready to retire there was a boom of births after WWII and through the 50's. The population levels are just capping. 
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11-20-2010, 06:37 PM
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Not quite. Most of Japan is a very natural landscape. It is just a large part of the population has drawn itself to the two largest plains, Kanto and Kansai.
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11-23-2010, 02:38 PM
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The fact is that Japan cannot sustain it forever.
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