According to the latest survey, only one in six Japanese teenagers between the ages of 17 and 19 said they would definitely get married in the future.
Photo: REUTERS
Japan has long earned the dubious title of the oldest country in the world. Here, more than a quarter of all residents have already crossed the 65-year-old threshold, and the average age is a record 49, which is the highest in the world after respectable Monaco. Therefore, the country’s authorities have long been thinking: what to do with demography, because it may turn out that Japan as a nation will disappear from the planet.
Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed to take urgent action to address the country’s declining birth rate, Reuters reported, saying it was “a matter of survival for Japanese society.”
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Photo: REUTERS
According to official estimates, the number of newborns in Japan fell below 800,000 for the first time last year, surprising the government, which had expected it would take eight years to reach that figure.
Trends in falling birth rates are typical of most countries in the world, including, unfortunately, Russia. Just the other day news broke that for the first time in 60 years, China’s population has declined. But Japan’s “demographic catastrophe” stands out even against the general background. And since this is the third largest economy in the world, the economic consequences of the shortage of workers in the Land of the Rising Sun will soon be felt throughout the planet.
Who is to blame for what is happening? Many assent to the mentality of the new generation of Japanese who insist on not starting a family. According to The Japan Times, only one in six 17- to 19-year-olds in Japan said they would definitely get married in the future, according to a recent survey. The reasons for this answer are also interesting. Half of the guys surveyed say it’s unlikely they’ll be able to find a partner. And another quarter refers to financial difficulties. But among girls, the most popular answer (it was given by more than 52% of the respondents) is “psychologically it is easier to live alone”. Indeed, how can you get to the registry office, in such moods …
