Yoroku: Japan needs a political party that can sidestep 'low birth rate trap'
The "low birth rate trap" is becoming an expression in Japan. This refers to the ageing of society due to low births over the long term, leading to a "seniors' democracy" in which policies are made that only exacerbate the problem.
In a book on the topic, population researcher Kanako Amano made several points: The country's budget is spent on social security for the middle-aged and elderly, while policies to increase the well-being of young people, who are now in the minority, are secondary. Measures to support marriage and child rearing also tend to be based on the values of the middle-aged and older generation, such as "It is natural for men to earn (the) money."
The Diet bill debate over the introduction of selective separate surnames for married couples for the first time in 28 years reveals the values of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. Responding to a suggestion that the system should be introduced to counter the declining birth rate, he stated, "It is not a matter that can be decided by majority vote."
Last year, the number of births in Japan fell below 700,000 for the first time. Measures taken over the past quarter century to combat the declining birth rate have had no effect. The book cites "a lack of imagination about the values of young people" as a factor.
Perhaps it is easier to get to the essence of the problem from an outside perspective. The declining birth rate is not the result of women not wanting to have children, but the result of creating a society in which women are unable to bring themselves to think they want to have children, a female pianist living in France pointed out in the Mainichi Shimbun readers' column "Minna no Hiroba" (Everyone's square).
Will Japan rely on immigrants? Or will we seek to create a society based on the premise of a declining population? We seem to be at a crossroads, but hopes of creating a society in which women want to give birth are not lost.
How can the opinions of young people be taken into account? A national election nears. Will a political party show up that will not lead Japan into the "low birth rate trap?"
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