This essay is the individual research paper for Introduction to Japanese Studies [JS1101], written entirely by me.)
Low Birth Rate in
Japan
Perhaps, the hottest
media phrase in Japan back in 1990 would be '1.57 Shock' which indicated the
unprecedentedly low fertility rate : 1.57 lifetime births per woman (Atoh,
2003). After the '1.57 shock' in 1990, the government in Japan tried to come up
with the policies to tackle the low birth rate, but they did not seem to have
alleviated the situation much afterwards, with the Total Fertility Rate of 1.43
in 2013 (JAPANTODAY, 2013). If the low birth rate continues, the working
generation will be shrunk in future. This will lead to various problems, such
as insufficient men to work for maintaining the nation's economic progress.
Reasons for Low
Birth Rate
1) The statistics
showed that, for women who gave birth for the first time, approximately 67% of
them are out of job after half a year (Kyoudousyakai Chousakekka). The
working environment in Japan seems to make it very difficult for women to work
and raise her child simultaneously.
2) The cost of raising a child is also a critical factor
which contributed to the low birth rate in Japan.
·
According to the survey conducted by KouShouRouDouSyou, 70% responded that the reason for not
having the number of children they want is because of the high cost that they
could not afford. For example, it costs nearly ¥20,000,000 (S$ 234,000) for
education from the kindergarten to the university.
·
According to the White
Paper in 2008, the monthly cost of education is ¥41,000, which is equal to
11.9% of the entire living expenses of the household. Moreover, the cost of the education has been
increasing.
3) The statistics from Koyoukintou(2011)
shows
that the number of hours husbands in Japan are committed to doing the house work
(washing, cleaning the house, or gardening etc) when the wives are working and when the wives are not working showed little difference ; in both cases, it was
below 1 hour. This indicates that the wives in Japan are doing most of the
housework without significant help from their husbands. On top of the
housework, wives in Japan also have to take care of their child's education,
and this goes to show why they do not wish to increase the number of children
due to too heavy a burden.
Current measures
taken by Japanese Government and the limitation of them
On 19 April 2013,
Prime Minister Abe made the announcement that children leave will be extended from 1 year to
3 years. However, I feel that the problem
is not the period of children leave, but it is whether they can take it or not.
Even when one is qualified to take the children leave, not all of them are able
to take it comfortably.
·
According to the statistics given by Kousyouroudousyou in 2012,
percentage of women who took the children leave is 83.6% which is considerably high.
However, this number is not accurate because the denominator is extremely
limited in the sense that they failed to take into consideration of those women
who have not been working while they are pregnant, or who are freelance or who work in house or who have been even
working but not qualified to take the children leave. In fact, the survey
showed that only 13.2% of women feel comfortable to take the children leave (Kyoudousyakai Syousikataisaku, 2009). Even those
who are actually qualified to take the leave, they cannot take it because it
would be difficult to again go back to the work or difficult to take because
the companies for which they have been working for lack workforce. Those whose
positions after the leave are guaranteed are mostly full-time employee or permanent employee in the company or the
government employee, and most of the time, women have to either give up the
position they have been taking or just leave the company. As mentioned earlier,
the cost of living and education is increasing and it would not be easy for the
couple to raise a child without both
working.
Conclusion
As mentioned earlier, low birth
rate is a serious social problem that needs to be alleviated as much as
possible. It is the first few years after the child was born that women need to
take special care. The working environment should be also changed so that women
can continue their career even after they take the leave.
Reference
·
Atoh. M , Akachi. M (2003) "Low Fertility
and Family Policy in Japan"
Retrieved from:
http://www.ipss.go.jp/webj-ad/webjournal.files/population/2003_6/1.Atoh.pdf
·
JAPANTODAY (2014) "Japan's fertility rate
rise to 1.43 in 2014"
Retrieved from:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/japans-fertility-rate-rises-to-1-43-in-2013
·
Kyoudousyakai Seisakutoukatsukan - chousakekka (Survey Result)
(last assessed on 24/10/2014)
Retrieved from:
http://www8.cao.go.jp/shoushi/cyousa/cyousa20/ikou/2_2_04.html
·
Japan Institution of Life Insurance (last assessed on
24/10/2014)
Retrieved from:
http://www.jili.or.jp/lifeplan/lifeevent/birth/5.html
·
Hataraku zyoseino jitsuzyou (current statistics about women
who are working)
Retrieved from:
http://www.mhlw.go.jp/bunya/koyoukintou/josei-jitsujo/dl/11gaiyou.pdf (2011,
page 12)
·
Hakusyo (2008) - White paper
Retrieved from :
http://www5.cao.go.jp/seikatsu/whitepaper/h20/10_pdf/01_honpen/