Japan’s population drops by 644,000 in a single year

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Japan is already a “super-aged society” with more than 28 per cent of the population aged 65 and older. But in 2021, the country grew even older as the percentage of senior citizens rose by seven per cent, while that of children 14 and younger fell by six per cent. It’s a troubling sign for a nation already facing a so-called demographic time bomb that could dramatically reshape one of the world’s largest economies.

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[adempc]

Create an environment that people want to raise families in.

People won't have kids if they are stressed, poor, overworked, or scarce on resources.

[JP-ufsh]

You can't be social or fertile while you are exhausted and stressed. This is a problem in the western culture too, but China and Japan for sure have the worst work-life balance. Add the increasing housing and livng costs and the choice is easy. It's not a technology issue the inherent system has to change. As long as your worth is determined by your competitiveness in career and financial status you create a toxic environment for raising children.

[rebeccachia]

Apart from increasing childcare and other benefits, they need to change some rules like giving more wages and more holidays to workers. The working environment is so stressful and long, people stressed over livelihoods, don’t have time to meet or have time for each other.

[bubblysoda]

My brother once visited Japan and stood in a hotel on the countryside which he really enjoyed because he said the ppl there were so kind and lovely. But when he went to Tokyo he was sad to see how dead everyone looked. They all looked so exhausted from long work hrs.

[JayFiCPA]

Not just Japan. Most developed nations started having less kids. As employers demand more hours for less pay and expenses keep rising. Starting a family becomes a luxury

[thebabyshpee]

“Why aren’t people having kids? All we do is work not to be productive, but to look busy. Pay poorly. Employees have vacation days but will be fired or passed up for promotion if they touch them. Do people not have time to have kids or something?” - Japan

[PT]

Some people say that to increase the fertility rate in Japan the government has to introduce more holidays and raise wages. While that helps, I think that a major paradigm shift must occur in Japanese work culture. Japanese salarymen and women work so hard not necessarily because they want to, but because it’s “expected” of them. As long as this silly idea that going home on time is “rude” and “hurts the company” continues to fester the fertility rate won’t improve.

[加藤一二三-gd]

I live in Japan and have no hope. There is only a heavy sense of entrapment.
Wages are low for the hours worked in a day, and taxes are levied under various names on the small amount of income. Many people cannot afford to raise children and have to make ends meet. Politicians are only in politics for the old people, not for the country.

[Aja-Christian]

I understand that while the shrinking fertility rate is going to cause problems, at the end of the day you just cannot force people to breed if they don't want to. Between the cost of living being too expensive as it is, a nation with an infamously toxic/competitive work culture and a slew of other factors, governments telling citizens that it's their "duty" to their country to reproduce just isn't going to work.

[ADunc]

When you work people to death and give them a horrible work life balance, they have almost no free time, and when they have free time they are drained from working so much. This on top of the cost of living going up is a large part of the issue. No free time, no energy, no money, long hours, is it really shocking why no ones having kids?

[intreoo]

Wow. Even during the dark days of Japan during the early 2000s, Tokyo's population was growing stably. The fact that now the population of Tokyo has shrunk really shows how serious this issue is. Documentaries on Japan's declining population appeared in the 2000s, so nothing has changed since then. Unless there is major social change in Japan, we're probably going to see Japan fade away in the coming decades..

[aetius]

Japan: population is shrinking
South korea: way ahead of japan...
China: starting to catch up to japan.

[Readasaur]

This is such a fascinating phenomenon to watch develop over the years. Many people feared that overpopulation would be the big issue, but we're now seeing the stress of modern life just makes propagation impossible.

[maxbigg]

I sincerely hope that Japan will be able to cut back on costs for housing and the other necessities for raising a family as well as giving workers better wages and some more benefits before it's too late. You can't have a family if everything's too expensive and your overworked. Eventually they'll have to do something, I just pray it isn't too late.

[Jungletraveler_]

This is a problem in many European countries too. You can't start a family when prices for everything gas, food etc go up and up to the point that you can barely even pay for mortgage anymore.

[lucasvasconcelos]

Of course it's like this. Young people don't want kids until they're comfortable financially or they don't want them at all. Moreover, having children so early is considered a shameful thing nowadays so obviously it's a lot harder for it to happen.
It's just education and development doing their work

[EzraB]

I spent 4 months in Japan and I'm convinced you can't solve this problem with economic policy. This is a CULTURAL issue.

[fiyahspinnah]

What's annoying about this is the focus on money and not on the people and why they're hurting so much.
How incredibly dystopian.

[smartperson]

I like how they keep talking about how the lower replacement rate will impact the economy and workforce. Like maybe people don't want to be seen as tax dollars on a spreadsheet. You need to improve your country's work life ballance and the social pressure that most people face. Also improving the quality of life and happiness of people is important because if your poor and depressed getting a kid doesn't help.

[slvshy]

Hardly ever in my life has a conversation involving babies been about a family that planned it and really desired it. Almost always it's an accident and an incredible burden on both individuals, despite their natural undying love for the child. This news is not surprising to me at this time in our world, and especially considering the work conditions the Japanese endure.