Posted on 12/04/2004 3:41:38 PM PST by traumer
The Japanese government says urgent policy changes are needed to persuade women to have more children.
Japan currently has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. Discrimination in the workplace and poor government policies have been blamed for deterring many Japanese women from having children.
But the government says that unless the trend is reversed quickly, the shortage of children risks doing damage to the economy.
The decline in Japan's birth rate is so severe they have invented a word for it - 'shoshika', meaning a society without children.
Unless women here start having more babies, the population in Japan is expected to shrink more than 20% by the middle of this century. Nearly half would be elderly, placing impossible burdens on the health and pension systems.
An official White Paper which has just been published recommends that the government now focus all its efforts on women born during Japan's last baby-boom, who are now in their 20s and 30s, in a final push to reverse the trend.
Today, record numbers of women in this age group are unmarried and without children. But it is not clear what kind of policies would work.
The government has already introduced a so-called 'Angel Plan', then a 'New Angel Plan', and most recently a 'Plus One Proposal' - all intended to offer more child-care facilities and other benefits for working mothers.
But the biggest obstacle to having families could be social attitudes. Men are still expected to spend long hours at the office and little time at home, while there is pressure on women to give up work when they have children.
A former prime minister who is in charge of the governing party's committee on population famously told women to stay at home and breed.
It is attitudes like that, still commonplace here - and not policies - which Japanese women say are putting them off getting married.
"Three-quarters of those who committed suicide were male..."
Like all other violence, most suiciders are male. I venture this is in-line with stats from other nations.
I don't think natural resources are depleting. I think people are becoming more prosperous and cultured. Culture tends to inhibit population growth.
Actually, the suicide rate in Japan is very high relative to other nations
What is in line with other nations is the violent death rate - the sum of deaths due to murder and suicide.
Interestingly, nations with very low murder rates (Japan, Switzerland) have high suicide rates, while nations with high murder rates (Mexico) have very low suicide rates.
The US is around average of all nations in both categories.
Just my opinion but I think a lot of women would stay home with the children if they could find a way to make it work. Unfortunately when we were yelling for equal rights way back when, the guys heard us and now a lot of them think we should work too. Equal rights, you know:')
It's always interesting reading what people think about having children before they do. They don't have a clue. No offense....this is true of everyone.
I know this is getting off the subject of this thread, but having children can be the best thing in one's life. I agree...not as a single mother. I hope you find a wonderful husband and father.
But children can change one's life, especially if you allow them to and don't get uptight about not being able to go out at the last moment or losing one's "freedom." When one has a child, there is a resevoir of love that opens up that you just won't believe until it happens to you. Yes, it is not easy to discipline and bring up children with decent values this year. But there is nothing better than snuggling with your children and loving them.
When you have your children, appreciate them and everyday that you have with them. And your life will be wonderful.
The two income household is a given these days. Having said that, if you want to send your child to the best schools,etc. what else are you supposed to do?
We gots to fix you up hunny! There must be a nice single Freeper around here somewhere who is lookin' to get hitched!
Hard to find a man who doesn't run in the other direction when you say you want to be a stay at home mother. However, I'm confident I will someone. Children are a blessing and not the curse that this society would have people believe, esp. women.
I'm trying... I want to do my part in outbreeding the libs ;-)
True! When I took Japanese in college, my instructor, a Japanese woman married to an American man, told the class, "If you ever go to Japan, don't fall for a Japanese man!"
You need to move to the South!
The birth rate always falls when women become educated, enter the work-force, and have access to birth control.
There is also some correlation to the freedom enjoyed by women since Muslim countries have maintained their birth-rates at a very high level whereas in every other country on earth, the fertility rate (children per woman) has fallen steadily since the 1950s.
There is nothing that a government can do about it. No policy enacted anywhere has affected it in the least.
The fertility rate has fallen to an average of 1.9 children per woman (versus the population sustaining level of just over 2.0 per woman) in every industrialized country.
Not so bad in the long-run since the old studies said that population explosion would pollute and destroy the planet. Sorry not going to happen. The planet's population is going to stabilize at 7 billion very soon.
The only bad thing is that in Muslim countries, women are still the property of men and their population continues to explode. Something to think about in terms of how we win the war against the Mulsim extremists. EQuality for women is one of the biggest steps needed.
I agree :-)
That is interesting. Here's something else: I once read that Japanese consider a murder-suicide within a family to be two suicides. So if a man kills his family and then himself they are all tallied as suicides.
Come stay with us, and we'll find you a nice Catholic man with a good job and a house in the suburbs :-).
Lots of guys in the red states like stay at home mothers. I simply can't afford a family due to my blue state cost of living.
My mom would go bananas if that happened *lol*
Bring your mom, too! The Charlotte area is very cosmopolitan.
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