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The number of children in Japan has fallen to 15.53 million, a new low in 37 years and 17,000 fewer than the previous year.
According to data from the country’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as of April 1, 2018, the population of children below 15 follows a decreasing trend since 1987.
The proportion of children to the total population is the lowest it has been in 44 years at 12.3 percent.
Boys outnumber girls in the country by some 370,000; there are 7.95 million boys and 7.58 million girls.
Among prefectures, only Tokyo in Kanagawa prefecture saw an increase in the population of children, a pattern for the past four years. The prefecture with the highest proportion of children is Okinawa prefecture at 17.1 percent, while the lowest is Akita prefecture at 10.1 percent.
Declining birthrates are not new to the country and are a common trend among high-income countries, including South Korea and Singapore.
However, Japan’s citizens are also living longer and the country is struggling to support its elderly and the superelderly (75 years old and up) without young blood.
According to a 2016 The Japan News report, gender equity could be a key to getting the population up. Western European countries have been able to grow their populations along with economic development, and one contributor could be that genders have been treated fairly according to their needs.
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A thriving economy may provide more access to education for both men and women, but traditional social norms still hinder women from having both a career and a family, leading to a trend of delaying marriage and having children.
For instance, workplace discrimination against pregnant women still exists despite laws against it, and becoming pregnant can cause a woman to be demoted or be fired.
Women are also expected to give up their jobs once they become mothers, which also puts pressure on men to single-handedly sustain a household. JB
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