Japan's birth rate remains at record low

WebIndia123.com ^ | Wednesday, June 1, 2005

[MinorityRepublican]

The fertility rate of Japanese women in 2004 remained at the record low of 1.29 children per woman, the same as the previous year, a survey showed.

A population survey report issued by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare showed that, when taken to the third decimal place, the rate was actually slightly below 1.29 last year, and slightly above in 2003, the Mainichi Shimbun reported Wednesday.

The results show that the rate is continuing to decline, which will force the government to continue to devise measures to counter the trend.

In an estimate released by the ministry in January, the number of births in Japan in 2004 was calculated at 1,107,000, a drop of 17,000 compared to the previous year.

Since the birthrate per 100 people was also 0.1 points lower than the previous year, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare had said there was a possibility that the total fertility rate would fall below 1.29.

[Nyboe]

maybe size does matter...

lol


j/k

[oblomov]

Here's the problem:

[Question_Assumptions]

Stop feeding young Japanese men naughty tenticle anime and start teaching them how to treat young Japanese women like human beings instead of servants, sex toys, and aliens. The problem will be figuring out how to throw the bath water out without tossing out the baby.

[sinanju]

Japan's population is 127.2 million. Having lived in Japan I can tell you that taxes and cost of living is just crushing. Japan government NEVER thinks of taxing the people less so that the economy will grow, or at least warm up. Japanese women are expected to be married by age 30, 35 at the latest, then stay at home. Young ladies have been fighting this cultural ideal for a few decades now. Young people see their fathers slave away for a small apartment and small pension and are not inspired. Young people also travel overseas more than previous generations and see the standard of living in other industrialized nations, they want that in Japan too but are met with generational resistance. Who wants to marry, have kids and be poor for the rest of your life? That seems to be the attitude most young Japanese have nowadays.

____________________________________________________________

Amen Brutha! Like my mom said when we lived there. No self-respecting young Japanese woman who has any choice in the matter would ever marry a Japanese man. Spend the rest of your days raising the kids, keeping house and enduring the mother-in-law, all in a tiny, shabby apartment. Oh, and nowadays be expected to hold down a job as well. Eff that!

One of these days a successor to Dr. Laffer (him of the Laffer Curve) will come up with a chart showing how fertility decreases as taxes and cost of living go up. At some point having kids gets just too expensive.

[Cronos]

Japan's population is supposed to crash to 50 million by 2020 or thereabouts

[cynicom]

I know where they can get some Mexicans that will cure that problem.

[rmmcdaniell]

But I am in the minority, and most americans want congestion and huge never ending increases in population.

Oh and about 75% of freerepublic thinks its a sin if you don't strive for it.

[SandyB]

Japan's population is supposed to crash to 50 million by 2020 or thereabouts

That would almost be paradise to me. When were we last at 50 million? 1880? or thereabouts? 50 million people spells: "affordable housing"

[MinorityRepublican]

I know where they can get some Mexicans that will cure that problem.

Haha too bad they do not tolerate illegal immigration.

[SandyB]

I know where they can get some Mexicans that will cure that problem. Haha too bad they do not tolerate illegal immigration.

But why? Why dont the Japanese want to over crowd/ over run itself with immigrants? and why do americans want to be over run with immigrants?

This is not 1863, back when we had lots and lots of empty land that needed homesteading, and millions and millions of jobs that we could not find workers for. Yes, there was a time when immigration made sense, when we wanted to fill up the land. But now, when all the land is taken, why do americans want to double and triple its population while the Japanese do not? There has to be darn good reasons why each country is doing the opposite.

[MinorityRepublican]

This is not 1863, back when we had lots and lots of empty land that needed homesteading, and millions and millions of jobs that we could not find workers for. Yes, there was a time when immigration made sense, when we wanted to fill up the land. But now, when all the land is taken, why do americans want to double and triple its population while the Japanese do not? There has to be darn good reasons why each country is doing the opposite.

There are still lots of cheap jobs in the country that we need immigrants for. Unless you want to pay 20 bucks for chicken.

Without significant immigration in the past 20 years, our economic growth would be severely limited.

[Cronos]

When were we last at 50 million? 1880? or thereabouts? 50 million people spells: "affordable housing"

There is a substantial difference in land area between the US and Japan. THe US would have to hold at least 2 to 3 billion people to reach the population density in Japan (my own rough approximations). I propose that every American citizen who cannot prove that ALL his ancestors after 1855 (150 years) were born in land that is now part of the USA should be told to leave. That will included descendents of immigrants from the 1850s, 1860s, 1870s, 1880s, 1890s, 1900s etc.

That should be fair.

[SandyB]

There are still lots of cheap jobs in the country that we need immigrants for. Unless you want to pay 20 bucks for chicken. Without significant immigration in the past 20 years, our economic growth would be severely limited.

Chicken did not cost 20 bucks BEFORE the change in immigration policies in 1965, there is no reason why it would cost 20 bucks if we go back to the limited immigration policies that we had prior to 1965.

What "economic growth"?

Real wages in the United States have not grown for 25 years. Good paying jobs are harder to get now than they were in 1965, both for college grads, and for unskilled american workers.

[SandyB]

THe US would have to hold at least 2 to 3 billion people to reach the population density in Japan (my own rough approximations).

I agree that although "most" americans, like you, support our current immigration policies that will give us a billion people living her by the end of the century, not everyone agrees with you and wants overcrowding.

There are still a few of us that do not like traffic congestion, and paving over our fields, forests, and farms for tract housing.

YOu dont need to do anything drastic to lower our population, just stop immigration, temporarily anyways until we get down to a level that leaves a lot of room for everyone. Ending immigration will cause our population to fall since American women have been below zero population growth since 1970.

[MinorityRepublican]

Real wages in the United States have not grown for 25 years. Good paying jobs are harder to get now than they were in 1965, both for college grads, and for unskilled american workers.

Ok then explain this?

[SandyB]

Where is the rest of the chart? that is only 10 years or so.... and you might want to add in taxes for a better picture of "take home" real wages. Also take into account the cost of housing and medical expenses.