We all have
idealized Japan as the absolute paradise of technology and pop
culture, but the reality behind the neon lights is quite worrying. Japan has
just published its demographic figures and broke their own negative record for
the forty-fifth consecutive year. The child population under
14 fell to just 13.29 million. That is only 10.8 percent of the total
population. If you thought that the problem of the lack of births was a simple
exaggeration of the Western media, the official figures show that the country
is one step away from a national emergency.
The
Unattainable Luxury of Starting a Family
Why do
young Japanese people no longer want to procreate? The answer is brutally
simple and resonates globally: money is not enough. Japanese forums
were filled with complaints because wages have been stagnant for years while
the cost of living spares no one. Maintaining a rent payment and making ends
meet is already a grueling endeavor for couples who work
full-time. Thinking about diapers, education and extra food has become a luxury
that very few can afford. Many young adults confess that they have a gigantic
respect for those who raise more than one child, as they barely manage to
survive by caring for only one child or living completely independently.
The
crisis of singleness and government failure
But the
economy is not the only culprit for this social disaster. Society has changed
radically and the infinite forms of individual entertainment make
looking for a partner seem like an unnecessary effort. Love and marriage took a
back seat when you have a thousand ways to have fun alone without having to
deal with the commitments of a relationship. Added to this is the gigantic
wave of indignation directed at the government. Agencies tasked with
supporting families are branded as useless and inefficient, with citizens
demanding urgent reforms after discovering that many of the family's policies
are designed by bureaucrats who don't even have children of their own.
The outlook
is so bleak that many experts are already predicting the imminent
bankruptcy of health and pension systems due to the lack of young
people paying taxes in the near future. Knowing that economic pressure
and disinterest in marriage are slowly destroying the demographics of
a world power, do you think that this birth crisis will end up repeating itself
in an identical way in Latin American countries over the next few years?
