An aging population is becoming an increasingly big challenge for Japan: yesterday it was reported that 10% of all residents in the Land of the Rising Sun are aged 80 and over, but the demographic problem is not reserved for Japan alone.
The main one is the low birth rate. For example, in South Korea the number of children born into a family is 0.79, in Taiwan it is 0.98, in Singapore it is 1.1, in China it is 1.15, and in Japan it is 1.3. This means that the population of these countries is in decline because even to maintain the size of the population requires a birth rate of 2.1 per family.
A woman and a girl on a street in Tokyo. "Birth rate in retreat", photo: AFP
The situation pushed these countries to embark on campaigns to encourage the birth rate. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently said that government support for raising children is "an issue that simply cannot be postponed anymore."
Chinese President Xi Jinping promised: "We will maintain policies to increase birth rates and lower the costs of pregnancy and childbirth, child rearing and schooling." In South Korea, President Yoon Suk-yeol said the country had spent more than $200 billion on programs. In Taiwan, the government pays parents a monthly allowance of 5,000 local dollars ($161) for the first child, and a higher amount for each additional child.
What led to the reduction in the birth rate?
According to Aharon Shai, an expert on China and professor emeritus of Tel Aviv University, the main reasons are the high standard of living to which the public has become accustomed, the high cost of living, and the real difficulty young people have in meeting it. "In China, families have become accustomed to having only one child. This has allowed them a high standard of living, which is not incentive to have more children."
Children playing basketball in Beijing. President Xi promised to "lower birth and pregnancy costs", Photo: AFP
Also, says Prof. Shai, young people are less and less inclined to settle down. "Many young people decide not to get married, and if they do, then not to have children." Prof. Shi explains that a similar phenomenon exists in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan: "In all these countries, life is very expensive, there is real difficulty living in cities, and the result is a minority of children."
The high standard of living, of course, also affects women, who wish to preserve their freedom and give up motherhood. For example, a young Chinese woman on Weibo responded to Xi Jinping's call for more children: "To encourage childbirth, you must first solve the concerns of young people. Our salaries are so low, while the rent is so high and the financial pressure is so heavy. My future husband will work overtime until 3 a.m. every day until the end of the year."
Kids in Seoul. "And even if there is a policy, will someone force women to get pregnant?"
South Korean author Lee Jin-sung, who has written books on the phenomenon, said: "Marriage, childbirth and childcare require too much sacrifice for women in a patriarchal society, especially in the last decade. So they start exploring the possibility of living well without getting married."
A similar explanation is offered by Alice Cheng, a professor of sociology at the National Academy of Taiwan. "The expansion of education that took place in the 70s and 80s in East Asia dramatically changed the status of women," she says. "It really took women out of their homes because they had knowledge, education and career options. As soon as their level of education improved, fertility rates began to decline... All the countries in East Asia are really scratching their heads and trying to think of policies and interventions to increase fertility rates. But if it's something women aren't interested in, how can you push them to do it?"
Overall, the population in the advanced countries of East Asia is aging, which requires increasing resources to support it – and at the same time, the number of people entering the labor market is decreasing due to the low birth rate. Only time will tell whether the authorities' efforts to change the trend will yield results.
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