Causes of population decline
Fewer women in Japan are having babies, leading to a reduction in birth rates. There are a number of reasons for this:
- Many Japanese women work in high-tech industries
- Their careers may be affected by being a mother
- Children are becoming increasingly expensive due to increased childcare costs
- Couples and women can afford a better standard of living if they have fewer children to support
- People are putting off having children until later in life to focus on careers and enjoy a better standard of living
- Declining marriage rate and increase in average age people get married (women 30 years, men 31 years)
- Inability to afford buying/renting own home (70% of unmarried people live with their parents)
- The fertility rate in Japan is 1 births per woman, well below the fertility replacement rate of 2
- The birth rate is 7 per 1000 people
- The death rate has increased in Japan from a low of 6 per 1000 in 1982 to 11 per 1000 in 2020
- In that time life expectancy has increased from an average of 77 years to 84.36 years. This means the increased death rate is not due to poorer healthcare, diet or standard of living but because the population is ageing.
- The more elderly the population, the higher the proportion of people who will die.
