The updated outline of government measures to fight Japan¡¯s low birthrate sets the right policy direction by calling for public support aimed at encouraging young people to marry among the steps to address the nation¡¯s demographic woes. But policymakers need to be aware that such efforts are not going to immediately halt the population¡¯s downtrend. What¡¯s needed will be steady long-term efforts to implement necessary steps.
While previous government efforts on the birthrate issue tended to focus on support for child-rearing by married couples, the outline called for encouraging marriage and childbirth at a young age among the priority tasks to be tackled in the coming five years.
Japan¡¯s total fertility rate ¡ª the average number of children that a women is estimated to give birth to in her lifetime ¡ª stood at 1.43 in 2013, having inched up from a record-low 1.26 in 2005, but it¡¯s still far below the 2.07 needed to maintain the population. Japan hasn¡¯t reached that level since 1973, and the long-term drop in the birthrate has contributed to the rapid aging of its society.
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