Re: O despertar do Japão
Enviado: 24/1/2023 11:36
Japan PM says country on the brink over falling birth rate
Japan's prime minister says his country is on the brink of not being able to function as a society because of its falling birth rate.
Fumio Kishida said it was a case of "now or never."
Japan - population 125 million - is estimated to have had fewer than 800,000 births last year. In the 1970s, that figure was more than two million.
Birth rates are slowing in many countries, including Japan's neighbours.
But the issue is particularly acute in Japan as life expectancy has risen in recent decades, meaning there are a growing number of older people, and a declining numbers of workers to support them.
Japan now has the world's second-highest proportion of people aged 65 and over - about 28% - after the tiny state of Monaco, according to World Bank data.
"Japan is standing on the verge of whether we can continue to function as a society," Mr Kishida told lawmakers.
"Focusing attention on policies regarding children and child-rearing is an issue that cannot wait and cannot be postponed."
He said that he eventually wants the government to double its spending on child-related programmes. A new government agency to focus on the issue would be set up in April, he added.
However, Japanese governments have tried to promote similar strategies before, without success.
In 2020, researchers projected Japan's population to fall from a peak of 128 million in 2017 to less than 53 million by the end of the century. The population is currently just under 125 million, according to official data.
Japan has continued implementing strict immigration laws despite some relaxations, but some experts are now saying that the rules should be loosened further to help tackle its ageing society.
Falling birth rates are driven by a range of factors, including rising living costs, more women in education and work, as well as greater access to contraception, leading to women choosing to have fewer children.
Last week, China reported its first drop in population for 60 years.
BBC
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64373950
It’s ‘now or never’ to reverse Japan’s population crisis, prime minister says
Japan’s prime minister issued a dire warning about the country’s population crisis on Monday, saying it was “on the brink of not being able to maintain social functions” due to the falling birth rate.
In a policy address to lawmakers, Fumio Kishida said it was a case of solving the issue “now or never,” and that it “simply cannot wait any longer.”
“In thinking of the sustainability and inclusiveness of our nation’s economy and society, we place child-rearing support as our most important policy,” the prime minister said.
Kishida added that he wants the government to double its spending on child-related programs, and that a new government agency would be set up in April to focus on the issue.
Japan has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, with the Ministry of Health predicting it will record fewer than 800,000 births in 2022 for the first time since records began in 1899.
The country also has one of the highest life expectancies in the world; in 2020, nearly one in 1,500 people in Japan were age 100 or older, according to government data.
These trends have driven a growing demographic crisis, with a rapidly aging society, a shrinking workforce and not enough young people to fill the gaps in the stagnating economy.
Experts point to several factors behind the low birth rate. The country’s high cost of living, limited space and lack of child care support in cities make it difficult to raise children, meaning fewer couples are having kids. Urban couples are also often far from extended family who could help provide support.
Attitudes toward marriage and starting families have also shifted in recent years, with more couples putting off both during the pandemic.
Some point to the pessimism young people in Japan hold toward the future, many frustrated with work pressure and economic stagnation.
Japan’s economy has stalled since its asset bubble burst in the early 1990s. The country’s GDP growth slowed from 4.9% in 1990 to 0.3% in 2019, according to the World Bank. Meanwhile, the average real annual household income declined from 6.59 million yen ($50,600) in 1995 to 5.64 million yen ($43,300) in 2020, according to 2021 data from the country’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
The government has launched various initiatives to address the population decline over the past few decades, including new policies to enhance child care services and improve housing facilities for families with children. Some rural towns have even begun paying couples who live there to have children.
Shifting demographics are a concern across other parts of East Asia, too.
South Korea recently broke its own record for the world’s lowest fertility rate, with data from November 2022 showing a South Korean woman will have an average of 0.79 children in her lifetime – far below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population. Japan’s fertility rate stands at 1.3, while the United States is at 1.6.
Meanwhile, China’s population shrank in 2022 for the first time since the 1960s, adding to its woes as it struggles to recover from the pandemic. The last time its population fell was in 1961, during a famine that killed tens of millions of people across the country.
CNN
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/01/23/asia ... index.html
O Japão é o exemplo perfeito de como o sistema de pensões está a destruir o ocidente.
Apesar de ter um enorme respeito e admiração pela cultura nipônica considero que vivem num sistema politico que pouco fica a dever ao comunismo chines (apesar de por lá se poder votar, ganha sempre o mesmo, é como Portugal mais ou menos...). É um exemplo de como o socialismo extremo acaba por se tornar numa forma de comunismo, o chamado capitalismo subsidiado pelo estado em que praticamente todas as decisões econômicas têm mão do estado.
Existe a noção de pessoa colectiva e existe certa liberdade de movimentação de capitais (assente numa banca privada), mas tudo num ambiente extremamente regulado, tal como cada vez mais acontece aqui na Europa.
A solução apresentada cai nos mesmos moldes daquilo que se faz em politica de natalidade na Europa, o recurso á arma favorita dos socialistas: O subsidio.
Obviamente que o subsidio não vai resolver nada. Porque para pagar subsídios, vai ter de asfixiar ainda mais os contribuintes criando o efeito exactamente oposto do que se pretende.
Para mim é claro que o Japão neste modelo está demograficamente condenado. Nunca existiu nenhuma evidencia de melhorias demográficas significativas com base em programas de subsídios governamentais.
Curiosamente o NIKKEI mantem um comportamento aceitável, estando a lateralizar há mais de um ano.