Image of a newborn baby. (©Sankei)
Japan's total fertility rate in 2023 has been updated to a record low 1.20. Fertility rates declined in all prefectures, dropping below one to 0.99 in Tokyo. This trend was starkly obvious in rounded-off vital statistics recently released by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The total fertility rate represents the average number of children a woman will give birth to during her reproductive years. Experts believe that a rate of 2.07 is needed to maintain the population at the same level. However, the current situation in Japan is far from that breakeven point.
Looking at the Numbers
From another perspective, the number of births was also the lowest on record at 727,277 nationwide. Meanwhile, the number of marriages, a major factor affecting the number of births, was 474,717. It thereby fell below 500,000 for the first time since the end of World War II.
Without a doubt, this is an extremely serious situation. On June 5 the House of Councillors passed a law to help combat the declining births. The legislation includes measures to expand child allowances and childcare leave benefits. It also introduces a system that allows parents to leave their children in daycare centers regardless of their parent's employment status.
Creating an Environment for Families
Many people in Japan today hesitate to have children due to concerns about financial insecurity. Stabilizing employment and improving income for young people is an urgent priority.
Financial support for child rearing is also critical. The burden of raising children tends to fall on women. So it is important to create an environment where women can find a work-life balance while child rearing. We need to steadily implement measures to create a society in which individuals will not give up on marriage and having kids.
However, just implementing these measures is not enough. Other things also need to be done at the same time. In short, we need to build the kind of Japan where people will enjoy prosperity while maintaining order ー even with a smaller population.
A National Vision
We would like to see Prime Minister Fumio Kishida incorporate nation-building and regional development into his responses to the declining population trend. Then it should become a key theme for his administration, presented along with population targets as part of a vision for the future.
Even as the general population declines, the number of elderly continues to climb. Meanwhile, the working population is falling, and inevitably the current labor shortage will worsen.
If depopulation continues and local finances deteriorate due to reduced tax revenue, providing adequate government services will become increasingly difficult. Infrastructure built during Japan's era of rapid economic growth, such as highways and water systems, are also aging. Furthermore, the costs of dealing with these issues are increasing.
There are also concerns about a possible decline in transport services. To address that, "clustered settlements" should be considered where public facilities and public housing are consolidated.
We are faced with limited human resources and available capital. Therefore, society will find the efficient use of artificial intelligence and other innovative approaches to be indispensable.
To achieve this goal, we should not hesitate to reorganize prefectures and other government units. The national and local governments will need the determination necessary to fundamentally revamp how regions are run.
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(Read the editorial in Japanese.)
Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun
