Japan’s biggest long-term problems are a low birth rate and a shrinking population. Incoming Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has pledged to provide insurance coverage for infertility treatments.

He will also promote paternity leave for working fathers to ease the burden on working mothers. He has promised more help for single-parent households, more than half of which are living in poverty.

Japan’s total fertility rate — the average number of children born per woman during reproductive years — was 1.36 in 2019. The government hopes to raise the rate to 1.8.

However, experts say that the policy will not be a panacea for reversing the nation’s declining birth rate, especially in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic when many people are suffering financially.

Suga’s precedessor, Shinzo Abe, regarded the rapidly ageing population and falling number of births as a “national crisis,” and introduced free preschool education and day-care services.

• Author
• Recent Posts

Michael Cook

Michael Cook edits BioEdge, a bioethics newsletter, and MercatorNet, an on-line magazine whose focus is human dignity. He writes from Sydney, Australia.

Latest posts by Michael Cook (see all)

• How long can you put off seeing the doctor because of lockdowns? - December 3, 2021
• House of Lords debates assisted suicide—again - October 28, 2021
• Spanish government tries to restrict conscientious objection - October 28, 2021