JSランゲージスクールブログ | Birth rate
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Today I would like to talk about a problem that is happening in Japan and many other developed countries, including the US. This problem is a low birth rate. In Japan the birthrate is actually negative. There are not enough new babies to replace the amount of people who are passing away. This could cause a problem, especially in a few years when the children get older and there are too many jobs to fill. Recently, I read that this is becoming a problem in the US too. Our birth rate has not dropped down to negatives yet, but it is at a level where we are barely keeping up with the past generations. I think many of the reasons that the birth rate is dropping are similar in Japan and the US. I will talk about some of the reasons that I think the birthrate is lower in the US these days in this blog.
The first reason is that the younger generation has less money available to them than older generations. Minimum-wage today compared to the past is higher on paper, but if you compare the worth of a dollar in the past and a dollar these days it is drastically different. People could get by on much less money in the past. So, many middle aged people worked part time jobs when they were young, and were able to support themselves through university. That is impossible these days. Part time jobs barely make a dent in tuition for university. Almost every student has to take out loans in the US. These loans are very expensive, and take years to pay off. People are trying to focus on paying off their debts instead of trying to have families.
Another reason is that women have more freedom these days. I think this is similar in Japan. Since women are able to hold their own careers, they have less of a want to have children in their early 20s or late teens. They would rather have a stable career first. If you want a stable career, you have to build up your career from the starting point. This may take a few years. Many women have a dream that's more work related than family related these days. They want to be successful just like their male counterparts. The only problem is that once you have children, you have to take at least a short break. Many companies see this as a negative thing, so they don't like to keep women who have children or who are pregnant in the higher ranks. This leads to many women putting off having children until they are done with their careers, or they are at a point in their career where they can take a break and come back and maintain their job.
Another reason women might not be having babies is because a lot of women are not getting married as early as before. I think this also correlates with having a career. Also, it is less expected of women to get married so early these days. In the past, in places like the US, women were expected to get married and have children from their early to mid 20s. It was also not uncommon to see people get married straight out of high school. This trend is changing a lot these days. The main reason is still that women are able to have careers these days so they don't want to settle down as quickly. With so many options open to women, there is less of a need to find a man with a stable income who can support them. They are able to support themselves.
Do you agree with any of these reasons as to why the birth rate is lower these days? Do you think it is similar in Japan?
