Ajit Karn
Tokyo: Friday, Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to increase child allowances and paid parental leave as he warned the country confronted its “last chance” to reverse its population decline.
Japan, like many other nations, has struggled for years with a declining fertility rate; last year, just under 800,000 babies were born, the lowest number since records began.
The nation is the second-oldest in the world, after minuscule Monaco, and Mr. Kishida warned in January that Japan was “on the verge of whether we can continue to function as a society.”
At a press conference to unveil new policy proposals, he told reporters, “Six to seven years from now is the last chance to reverse the declining birth rate trend.”
“I want to create a society in which young people are free to marry whomever they choose and anyone who desires can have children and raise them without stress,” he said.
He presented proposals such as increased allowances for younger children, efforts to increase wages for young people, and measures to reduce the cost of higher education.
Prime Minister Kishida announced that the government’s new aim is for 50 percent of new fathers to take parental leave by fiscal year 2025, and 80 percent by fiscal year 2030.
Just under 14 percent of fathers took leave in 2021.
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In order to accomplish the increase, he proposed that companies be compensated for encouraging paternity leave, and he also pledged higher pay when both parents take leave.
“In this way, couples can share childcare and household responsibilities while the impact on income and career advancement is reduced,” he explained.
“More assistance for single parents is required,” he continued, recalling a conversation with a young woman who expressed apprehension about marrying, having children, and then divorcing.
“The story was a true reminder that the times and the attitudes of young people are changing,” Mr. Kishida said, without elaborating on the specific policies he intends to implement regarding the issue.
Mr. Kishida did not specify how Japan would finance the additional measures, which follow multiple cycles of pandemic-related economic stimulus and a commitment to increase defence expenditure.
His administration intends to present a framework that includes the provisions by June.
