Kishida unveils new measures to reverse declining birthrate amid election rumors

"Without arresting the fast-declining birthrate and populations, Japan's economy and society would shrink, making it difficult to maintain social security systems."

And that is what it’s all about.

However, the government has yet to outline exactly how it would fund the measures, stoking fears of runaway debt.

And that's the key point. More empty promises.

The government will also urge companies to allow employees to choose more flexible working styles such as taking three days off a week

Is that like the urge for Premium Friday? How did that work out? I think urges will be the death of the nation. Perhaps demands with teeth could be tried.

Without arresting the fast-declining birthrate and populations, Japan's economy and society would shrink, making it difficult to maintain social security systems."

With the Bubble bursting and subsequent neo-liberal labor and financial reforms by the LDP, Japan has some of the biggest gaps between Boomer assets and later generations.

Their social security has not been provided for and Kishida's birthrate proposals will do nothing to address this.

Only wealth redistribution and radical labor reforms in worker's favor, a stated but forgotten goal of "New capitalism" could possibly address this.

Great, a photo op on power point slide #1. Not convincing already...

Japan's birthrate has been on a steady decline, dropping last year to a record low of 1.26 from 1.57 in 1990, despite a series of government measures to reverse it.

Including child care allowances!

Kishida's plan would see the government earmark about 3.5 trillion yen annually for the next three years for child care allowances

Ever meet anyone claiming that a child care allowance encouraged them to have a child? Me neither.

Like putting a tiny band-aid on a gaping wound.

Unless the CAUSES of the declining birthrate are addressed, nothing will change other than taxpayers getting fleeced MORE.

But, that's what hapless pols do, try to throw money(other people's) at whatever "solution" of the day.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday unveiled a package of wide-ranging measures to reverse a dwindling birthrate, saying the problem needed to be tackled as .....

....there's an election coming.

I see our illustrious PM is not setting a good example.... should leave the tie at home in the interests of 'Coolbiz' and saving the planet. （＾＿－）

However, the government has yet to outline exactly how it would fund the measures, stoking fears of runaway debt.

We all know where it will come from, from taxpayers money which will lead to more people escaping overseas and depreciation of the yen.

With measures such as bigger payouts to families with children and providing homes for hundreds of thousands of such households,

I understand what you want to do, but how are you going to do this? What are the plans?

Kishida's plan would see the government earmark about 3.5 trillion yen annually for the next three years for child care allowances and support for those taking child care leave.

However, the government has yet to outline exactly how it would fund the measures, stoking fears of runaway debt.

If you have a solid plan, there should be no issue in funding such a plan that most would see as beneficial.

The government will raise more from social insurance premiums - a move that could backfire on corporate efforts to hike wages - while also curbing increases in social security spending.

Wow

It was "inappropriate" to criticize the government for pushing back a decision on funding sources, Kishida said.

Sensitive much?

The government will also urge companies to allow employees to choose more flexible working styles such as taking three days off a week, according to a draft of the package seen by Reuters.

Yeah yeah, I already heard about this. The question is what are the plans? How exactly do you plan on doing this? Will this end up being another Premium Friday stint?

Let’s throw more money at the problem which will cause raising taxes on the very people we wish to encourage to have children, without addressing the roots of the problem at all.

The government will raise more from social insurance premiums - a move that could backfire on corporate efforts to hike wages - while also curbing increases in social security spending.

How in the world does he manage to talk out of both sides of his mouth, while at the same time having a foot stuck in there too?

Social insurance premiums....... DOH! Look up the name! Kokumin Kenko Hoken ZEI! The NIH is actually a tax, and it has to to paid prior to any other "debts" or payments a person has. The "Shakai Hoken" is in reality a tax as well, based upon the income of the person paying into the system AND is a co-pay with the employer.

Increasing premiums is just double speak for "increasing taxes"

Kishida sidestepped queries on plans for a snap election, saying numerous factors would govern the decision as the approaching end of the parliament session could make for a fluid political situation."I want to be sure that I can assess the situation appropriately," he added. "I would like to refrain from commenting further on this matter."

Up until now Kishida flatly denied he would call a snap election. This signals he js changing his tune. What a waste of tax money if LDP calls an election when Kishida barely served half his term. Elections are super expensive for taxpayers.

It was "inappropriate" to criticize the government for pushing back a decision on funding sources, Kishida said."

Oh, its more than appropriate Kishida san.

The government will raise more from social insurance premiums - a move that could backfire on corporate efforts to hike wages - while also curbing increases in social security spending.

Oh one other thing; he can not just arbitrarily increase Shakai Hoken payments without making similar increase in payments (increase in TAX) on the Kokumin Kenko Hoken and Kokumin Nenkin either.

Also "curbing" increases in social security spending needs a better definition because by the way things are done here CHILD CARE COSTS are covered under...drum roll.... (double face palm) SOCIAL SECURITY SPENDING!

Notice how Kishida quietly slipped in help for all the LDP's buddies in the construction industry.

providing homes for hundreds of thousands of such households

So who will build these homes for all these families? Why it will be the all corrupt construction industry who dutifully all repays the LDP.

It's really up to private-sector employers - not the government - to make their workplaces more parent-friendly with work/life-balance. Good luck achieving that in "karoshi" Japan.

In the end, though, low and middle income working people will bear the brunt, like they always do. Any hike the consumption tax, perhaps? Another cut in the corporate tax?

The only thing "next dimensional" about this, will be the tax increase

The reality is that it's way too late to make any impactful changes when it comes to local births. You could make all higher education free for all kids, but then adding it back on taxes would more or less erase any positive outlook such a change would make. It mostly comes down to how young people see their future, and all they see are higher taxes and negative prospects. Boomers are sitting on most of the money this country has while young people are basically living in a third world country, might want to target that money.

It will work out the details of securing stable sources of funding by year-end, officials have said.

It’s vague isn’t it?

However, the government can either borrow money or raise taxes

The trend in Japan has been to raise taxes

Expect more poverty in Japan going forward

"Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth." Will people listen to these words faithfully?

During WW II, Imperial Japan’s dictatorial government encouraged the nation to multiply population so that it could proceed with its imperialist and expansionist policy abroad.

Can the Kishida government follow suit? Can money work as an incentive?

The "problem" is women. Or rather women Choosing to marry later and have kids (usually kid) later. The reason being the employment structure being a one way street. You join, you leave. There are no ramps to rejoin.

You could put up a hot air balloon with what comes out of that guy's mouth.

With measures such as bigger payouts to families with children and providing homes for hundreds of thousands of such households

There are two general ways to deal with the problem. One would be huge impopular measures that would bring deep social change but that would alienate conservative (and rich) sectors of the population, meaning sacrifices for the public in general and for the politicians that enacted the measures. The other way is to throw money to people and expect the problem to solve itself even if the same approach has been tried many times before without any long lasting benefit (except of course raising the popularity of the government).

Sad to see which way Kishida choose to deal with this.

So who will build these homes for all these families? Why it will be the all corrupt construction industry who dutifully all repays the LDP.

With all the "open" houses sitting around I can see Kishida wanting to create laws forcing owners to let these families use them!

Kashida san has used up all of his brain cells and came up with basically nothing. Nothing...

Giving / helping by Money - it is not going to help much to increase birthrate, need to change MINDSET for child in Japan.

Here's what you can do :

Make the cost of raising a child more affordable! Who pays 8,000 yen for baby shoes knowing they're gonna outgrow them in a matter of months? Children's clothing can get very expensive though they wear them for a few months.

Lower the rent for first time families until the age of 5 (maybe) by 20% if they have 1 child and 30% if they have 2 or more.

Offer state issued monthly discount coupons for baby products (papmers, baby formula, clothing) for the first year for first time families.

Copiuos studies here in Japan have showed time and time again that younger adults (20-30 years) prefer to be single and focus on their career or have a dog than to have a baby because of the costs child rearing comes with.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/sep/14/record-number-of-young-people-in-japan-rejecting-marriage-survey-shows

https://japantoday.com/category/national/33-of-japanese-think-marriage-is-pointless-survey

https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14645548

And where exactly in the article those “measures” are written?

They really need to improve the pay rates to address this problem. Minimum wage is about a 1000 yen an hour and there are the very expensive health and pension schemes you're obligated to enrol in to boot. It doesn't leave you much left over let alone having the money to raise a family. Some of the low income earners can't afford to pay into them.

They could tackle the aging problem another way. There is Plan 75.

A declining birthrate is just what we require in an already grossly over -populated country and indeed world.

Japan's leaders know what programs to implement to make it easier for young couples to raise children. The question is whether those who control the purse strings want to spend the money to help the citizens, or not.

One potential political issue here: An increasing number of Japanese people don't want to have kids or are too old to. They won't always appreciate freebies being handed out to others, funded by their taxes, excluding them as recipients, and perhaps paid for by reducing their benefits. You can only offer so many incentives to a group before you get pushback from others. That's why positive discrimination often loses you votes.

Incidentally, a lower birthrate is environmentally beneficial to our overpopulated planet. Every human has a carbon footprint. The fewer people, the smaller the total footprint.

long story with many lines make short.

WHAT IS THE PLAN?EXACTLY.

Kashida san has used up all of his brain cells and came up with basically nothing. Nothing...

And your comments show you have no brain cells to begin with.  None.......

I see our illustrious PM is not setting a good example.... should leave the tie at home in the interests of 'Coolbiz' and saving the planet.

And what do leaders in the west wear to a press conference? Hulu shirts and Bermuda shorts?

Great, a photo op on power point slide #1. Not convincing already...

Too bad leaders in the west don’t how to use powerpoint. Too busy breaking the law like Trump and  Boris Johnson.

However, the government has yet to outline exactly how it would fund the measures, stoking fears of runaway debt.

You mean like America? I guess the Western press needs an economics lesson.

A declining birthrate is just what we require in an already grossly over -populated country and indeed world.

I hope you have a retirement plan because you can kiss your Japanese pension goodbye!

I hope you have a retirement plan because you can kiss your Japanese pension goodbye!

I guess you never heard of interest rates.

Like communism, capitalism is not kind to the working population, the majority receiving poor remuneration and suffering under a heavy feudalistic tax burden to feed the insatiable maw of the military and keep the ruling few in comfort. The resulting financial straits that young people (the generation that has sex and makes babies) find themselves stuck in are a big disincentive to the libido and to reasonable prospects for starting a family. Add to these basic facts the chronic work-life imbalance that leaves Japanese little time for the pursuit of a life partner and scant energy left for sexual activity, and all together you have the making of a perfect storm that is rocking the boat of Japan Inc. Faced with the imminently threatening waves of his country's demographics Kishida with his "new" capitalism is as helpless as King Cnut.

Japan is far from alone in the developed world in having a declining birthrate. Places like Korea, Singapore, Italy, Germany, Australia, the UK - to name a handful - also have declining birth rates.

Japanese people have made a conscious decision to reduce the population to boost the quality of life. Japan is painfully overcrowded where most people work and live.

Japan is showing the world that economic growth can be achieved with a falling population. The world is taking notes - and many nations may well follow suit.

"Too bad leaders in the west don’t how to use powerpoint. "

Yes, they should take lesson from some of the 'expert ' J- leaders here, like the IT & cybersecurity minister who doesn't know what a USB stick is and doesn't know how to use a PC. True fact.

And what do leaders in the west wear to a press conference? Hulu shirts and Bermuda shorts?"

Hulu shirt - what? How about Netflix ones, lol.

"Now is the last chance to reverse the downtrend in childbirth by the 2030s," Kishida told a televised press conference

…

Unless Kishida has an accelerated cloning process in place then it is all just waffle

And the Japanese aren’t having kids because they don’t ( for the most part) have anywhere to put them in a small 2DK in the Kanto area

Who pays 8,000 yen for baby shoes knowing they're gonna outgrow them in a matter of months? Children's clothing can get very expensive though they wear them for a few months.

That's why any smart person buys things second hand and then passes them down to the next child. Even friends' kids give their outgrown uniforms to a friends' younger child if there are no siblings.

Japan is showing the world that economic growth can be achieved with a falling population. The world is taking notes - and many nations may well follow suit.

I want to live in what ever bubble you are living in.

Japan has way too many people as it is, a steep decline isn't going to hurt anything.

For most residents of Japan the main issue now is the soaring cost of living. Next, perhaps higher taxes and government cuts in social welfare (alongside hikes in military spending), and the wimpy yen. And of course, there's climate and environment. The birthrate problem ranks low on most people's worry lists.

As usual, lots of grumbling, but few alternate plans or ideas.

I don’t know what to do about it, but there may be a mascot involved.

And where exactly in the article those “measures” are written?

After a headline of "unveils measures", yes, we are given no measures.

I love the part on funding sources lol a country that has a debt to gdp ratio of over 250% talking about funding sources lol it’s the usual pre election gimmick, throwing money around, that’s what the LDP has been doing for the last 70 years and that why we are in this financial mess and that’s also why everyone here without exception always expects handouts. People here have less children not so much because of money worries but because the working culture here is a libido killer and a child raising nightmare which no money in the world will change.

Japan is showing the world that economic growth can be achieved with a falling population. The world is taking notes - and many nations may well follow suit.

Japan is living on wealth created in the past and had economic growth because of massive public debt funded investments. This does nothing to say that they have world class companies here for sure but the fact is that the domestic economy is definitely sucking on old money and when that will be gone and the bill of all that debt starts to come we’ll see what they’ll be showing the world

Japan doesn’t need to be overpopulated. Halve the population. Other countries manage. In the interim, instead of handing out money, push iDeCo and NISA, encourage families to save and for goodness sake reduce or remove CGT and inheritance tax! Most thinking people have given up on the kokumin nenkin, and for anyone that hasn’t: see previous sentence.

The trick is to ignite an economy fire, to initiate a new bubble, using the exactly same helicopter money for all, yes, that one that is already now printed in megatons but lands only in a very few already rich pockets. And of course it has to be done before all those other named economically rivaling countries with similar low birth rates or aging problems copy that idea. The time frame is not so big, so I really recommend to act fast. Another attempt would be the normal, conventional sequence, but that’s too slow and all others of the rivals can do it too which lowers our success probability here significantly. That normal sequence is maybe what is in focus now, a few and insufficient better start conditions, then the still only few more children being better educated, contributing to a more skilled workforce who develops and engineers more quality products that sell great on global markets which then finally brings in the money for financing the next round of attempts, repays the debts and secures the social security systems. Not exactly too wrong, and many of it is also required in my suggested new bubble attempt, but we don’t have the time for such half-hearted lay gaming. We need countable and visible results right now, or let’s be biological correct, in about nine months from now, baby cars and strollers everywhere and filling everything , for illustration purposes literally pushing all you lame ducks out of every single public train, bus or waiting lines. Now it’s your turn, light up the fire.

Something needs to be done to help people move into the stage of actually being able to have a child. My partner and I want to start a family, but are planning on moving back to my home country to do so as it just doesn't seem possible here. Help with childcare is all well and good, but we are already dealing with low wages, high tax on everything, inflation, overtime at work. When she gets pregnant she is going to have to take a lot of time off, making everything even harder. I know having child will always be hard work, but there are so many different things here that make it more difficult than it needs to be.

So basically creating a feedback loop of debt. Incentives to have kids like an extra 2man a month for the first few years is nothing. No sane person would think “oh the government is going to give us a few extra bucks, let’s have a kid!”

Once again they are refusing to see the problem for what it is and putting bandaids on a leaking dam. People will have kids if they feel secure enough to support them throughout their lives. A kids needs don’t end at 3 years old. A families financial situation doesn’t get fixed because “they can afford” a meal at yoshinoya every once and a while.

Urging change hasn’t been working. Definitive work life changes and real wage changes, not just among the increasingly less permanent workers, but everyone, need to happen NOW. With no one being taken to task for changes, nothing changes. Look at work from home, companies across the planet survived by doing it if not thriving, but we still have Japanese businesses refusing to do so or demanding overtime because they would have been there.

fix the problems!

"Too bad leaders in the west don’t how to use powerpoint. "

I doubt many people in Japan are in a position to criticise anyone about how to use Powerpoint. I regularly have to deal with Japanese PPT slides and can state with confidence that they are among the worst in history. There seems to be a competition for how much information can be squeezed onto a single slide. Kind of like Japanese web pages.

"I don’t know what to do about it, but there may be a mascot involved."

Brilliant idea....mascot is absolutely essential.

"When I cast my vote, I will think of the posters of the JT and think I am doing something that they cant. And I will smile."

Oui bien, we will think of you and smile when we are out and about dating the charming Japanese ladies smitten with foreign JT posters, that you can't.

I prefer Apple's Keynote which I have used to create hundreds of extensive presentations. One of my most used apps.

Kishida unveils new measures to reverse declining birthrate

Its really very simple...The only way to reverse the declining birthrate is for people to have more children.

The only way to make people have more children, is to make super affordable to raise them.

Its basically to expensive to have and raise kids in Japan....so people are not having them.....hence the declining numbers......Its not rocket science is it ? Doh !

Its really very simple...The only way to reverse the declining birthrate is for people to have more children.

The only way to make people have more children, is to make super affordable to raise them.

Its basically to expensive to have and raise kids in Japan....so people are not having them.....hence the declining numbers......Its not rocket science is it ? Doh !

Japan is showing the world that economic growth can be achieved with a falling population. The world is taking notes - and many nations may well follow suit.

How is that tell us? Japan hasn’t see a significant economical growth for 30 years with a working class that hasn’t seen any significant wage increase in that period. Nor it has seen a significant increase in quality of life despite people being overused all their life to the point of having a miserable boring life working for boring outdated Japanese corporations and paying outrageous taxes to a corrupted cast called government here.

How is that an example for the rest of the world? What about you come out of your ridiculous fantasy world you are living in?

Offering free housing is a good incentive and possible solution. Having a home is important towards making a family and having children.

There are so many akiya empty homes. Allow couples (married or not) to move into them with no tax burden and provide them with 1m yen to refurbish. They get the ownership papers and no property taxes to pay for 10 years.

Couples are more likely to have children when they live in the countryside verus the city. Also solves the ruralization challenge.

I realize that this is a huge cost for the government. But really, there's not much to lose with this idea.

Why should I have to pay higher taxes to support other people who want kids? I don’t want kids. Pay for them yourself if you want them.

So we need more younger people to support 70:s baby boomers when they enter retirement age. And next time we will need even more people to support even more retired people? Just leave the system alone, and let it stabilize by itself!

You might get a slight uptick in the birth rate, but since young women have more career opportunities, higher education, better fertility choices, and more choice on how to spend their own money, it's not going to encourage anyone to say "Let's have one more". It doesn't matter what childcare facilities you give, because your average woman, (NOT YOUR HIGH EARNER) doesn't want to work full time, then go home and look after the kids, and look after the home. I've noticed an uptick in the grandparents doing the run around of picking grandkids up from kindergarten, running the grandkids around to swimming lessons, piano lessons etc.

I wonder if politicians realize that the "average woman" doesn't want to have a bigger family, a great career, and a great salary because that's not real life, as most people don't earn above the average salary with wonderful jobs. It would be great, but I don't think the average nurse, shop worker, or office worker. We can also have smaller families because we know that one child or two children will reach old age. We have eradicated many of the diseases that caused us to have more children.

I guess you never heard of interest rates.

I'm no economist but my understanding of how the pension schemes works is for it to be effective it need a large working population. The opposite is happening right now. The working population is decreasing and elderly population is increasing. Less money is coming in and more money is coming out. Letting immigrants in to work is a solution but that won't happen any time soon.

"Now is the last chance to reverse the downtrend in childbirth by the 2030s," Kishida told a televised press conference.

oh, really?

what about the FIRST 69,000 chances Japan had in the last 40-50 years?

How did those work out?

The usual fluff. Throwing money they don't have at a problem they don't understand. What a bunch of clowns!

Slogans are good. Remember the “AMBITIOUS JAPAN” slogans on the shinkansen?

How about “AKACHAN JAPAN”

Or “セックス JAPAN”

Need to teach the lads some game to start. What percentage of young Japanese have never had a girlfriend by 25 you reckon? 30%? More? 50?

The Pareto principal in this arena explains a lot. Those that are doing well are doing really well, and are thus less likely to step out of their found arena of prowess to settle down. Those at the other end of the graph are doing very badly, like almost mission impossible level badly. Many young lads just laugh if you ask them if they have a girlfriend. This is occurring in many countries in the world too by the looks, not just inJapan. The dynamics of dating and relationships have completely changed, and I don’t see what throwing trillions of yen or the likes of Kishidasan can actually do about it. More to do with the election than the erection this one! Excuse the pun!

Too little too late.

Japan is well and truly done for.

The population pyramid is about to topple

Certainly spending 1’s and 0’s on helping families have and raise more healthy children should take a back seat to LBBQ whatever. What’s wrong with these folks?

invalid CSRF

So what are the measures ?

Certainly spending 1’s and 0’s on helping families have and raise more healthy children should take a back seat to LBBQ whatever. What’s wrong with these folks?

invalid CSRF

Allowing people the same rights to live as the rest does not cost anything, sadly they keep spending money on meetings and creating bills to avoid giving these rights, so the opposite is true.

Need to teach the lads some game to start. What percentage of young Japanese have never had a girlfriend by 25 you reckon? 30%? More? 50?

The Pareto principal in this arena explains a lot. Those that are doing well are doing really well, and are thus less likely to step out of their found arena of prowess to settle down. Those at the other end of the graph are doing very badly, like almost mission impossible level badly. Many young lads just laugh if you ask them if they have a girlfriend. This is occurring in many countries in the world too by the looks, not just inJapan. The dynamics of dating and relationships have completely changed, and I don’t see what throwing trillions of yen or the likes of Kishidasan can actually do about it. More to do with the election than the erection this one! Excuse the pun!

Not sure how much it has to do with game, but yeah I feel women in general have a very skewed view of what level of man they should be able to get, and it ends up with the top 5% having a tabehoudai and the bottom 50% with nothing.

I think one reason for this is that good looking men or any man for that matter, is able to speak, have fun and end up having a one night stand with women that they would never date. Women on the other hand mostly only go for men that is totally their type or that they believe to be on their level. I think all these women that is being played around by these top 5% men end up thinking that they can end up with a man of that level, be it rich/handsome or both. Of course I'm stereotyping a lot but often hearing about such topics from female friends I think many have very unrealistic expectations.

How about pushing for a 3% birthrate, so the population reaches 250 million by 2047 and 500 million by 2075.

Noone asks what the sustainable population might be for Japan. In 1948, the government sought ways to reduce the population growth.

They’ve got to get jobs away from the major cities Tokyo and Osaka. There must be lots of different types of initiatives that could encourage that, many of them not even costing that much. The prefecture with the lowest birth rate is Tokyo - hardly surprising as it is expensive and inconvenient to raise children there.

If companies embrace more modern ways of doing things - digitally, online, do away with hankos and fax machines then there’s really no reason for many of them to be located in Tokyo. Locating away from the big cities would also reduce pressure to increase salaries - a person trying to bring up a family on an above average salary of 10 million is still going to find it a bit of a squeeze living in central Tokyo, but would be quite flush living in a smaller regional town or small city on that salary.

Some mentioned allowing people to more easily move into Akiya, but you have to consider the reason those buildings are empty in the first place - if there are no jobs close by, nobody is going to want to live there.

Japanese women do not want have children with lost cause Japanese husband,who are not their emotional for them or their children

 but would be quite flush living in a smaller regional town or small city on that salary.

Not how Japan works. If you live in a small city, your pay will be reduced to peanuts.