Some new numbers paint Japan’s population decline problem in a stark light. A record number of young people in the country don’t want the responsibility of raising children. And for the first time, the number of women saying no to offspring outweighs the number of men.
64.7% of Japanese women 18-29 don’t want kids
I’ve written before about the annual report from Rohto Pharmaceuticals. The Pregnancy White Paper (妊活白書) asks men and women of different age groups about their thoughts on pregnancy and raising children.
For example, the company asked 400 men and women between the ages of 18 and 29 if they wanted kids in the future. A full 62.6% replied that they didn’t – up from 56.6% the previous year. It’s the third year in a row that no outweighs yes.
But it’s the gender breakdown that stands out. 64.7% of that group said they didn’t want kids, surpassing the 60.7% of men who said the same. It’s the first time these roles have been reversed.
Digging into why, Rohto found that women more than men feared two things. The first was the economic burden that having kids entailed. Women feared this more than men, 71.7% to 63.2%.
More striking, however, was the impact on one’s career. 61.4% of women labeled this as a risk compared to only 51.2% of men – a 10.2-pt gap.
Unprepared for having kids
Now, the good news is that these numbers change with age. As men and women enter their early 30s, they become more open to the idea of having kids. In the latest survey, 52.9% of people aged 30 to 34 said they wanted children. That’s the largest percentage ever, pushing the average age for having kids to 31.3 years.
The bad news? Older women still don’t find it easy to balance family and their careers. In fact, 64.1% of women in this age group said they feel that having kids interfered with their careers. That’s worse than the 61.4% of women in the 18-29 age group who feared the same. In addition, a full 66.8% said they considered changing jobs or transferring within their company once they begin child-rearing.
What’s more, a majority of couples who ended up having children say that they felt ill-prepared for the experience. A full 62.4% of both men and women said they wish that schools had done more to teach them about pregnancy and childbirth.
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A society that wants kids but isn’t kid-friendly
The Rohto survey results point to a continuing tension in Japanese society. On the one hand, Japan needs to boost its childbirth rates to offset rapid population decline. On the other hand, Japanese people don’t seem keen on marrying, let alone raising a family. At current rates, 44.3% of Japan’s households could be single-person households by the year 2050.
The economy definitely plays a role. Wages have stagnated in Japan for decades. And the country has found itself battered by rising utility costs and consumer prices in recent years.
However, other surveys of Japan’s youth show that the economy is only one factor in the decision not to have kids. Many say that a better work-life balance would go a long way towards convincing them to start a family.
Sadly, while Japan’s government wants more people to have kids, it’s failed to pursue policies – like shorter working hours or more flexible work arrangements – that would make it a child-friendlier nation. Japanese parents have complained that the simple act of taking their children out in strollers in public can be a nightmare.
To survive, Japan needs more children, or it needs more immigrants. It’s made it clear lately that it doesn’t want the latter. But those in power don’t seem willing to create the environment necessary to make the former possible, either.
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Sources
ロート製薬『妊活白書2025』を公開。解決の鍵は「早めに正しい妊活知識を得ること」と「子どもを授かる“前”からのサポート」. Rohto
「子どもがほしくない」女性が65％、初めて男性を上回る【妊活白書2025】Daily
【情報ファイル】2050年に単独世帯が44.3％、一人暮らし男性高齢者の6割が未婚. En-Ichi
