Japan’s sex problem could cause the population to fall by forty million by 2065
Despite many claiming that they would like to get married eventually, a Japanese research firm found that almost seventy per cent of unmarried Japanese men and sixty per cent of unmarried Japanese women are not in relationships
By Chris Weller
Japan’s fertility problem hit a new low last year: 2016 was the first year since 1899 that fewer than one million babies were born in the country.
New data suggests the trend isn’t poised to let up anytime soon.
Japan’s National Institute of Population and Social Security Research predicts that the country’s current population of 127 million will decline by nearly 40 million by 2065.
Demographic experts point to younger generations’ waning interest (and ability) to start families, along with low immigration rates, as the primary causes of the decline.
Mary Brinton, a Harvard sociologist who studies Japan, says Japan’s work culture often prizes long hours at the expense of an active social life. For several decades following the second world war, men worked while women raised children. Now, as more women enter the labour force, both sexes are finding it difficult to start a family of their own.
“This is death to the family,” she tells Business Insider.