Japan has currently reached the lowest of lows with their decreasing population. According to the article, “The ministry estimated 921,000 babies will have been born by the end of 2018 – 25,000 fewer than last year and the lowest number since comparable records began in 1899.” Japan is known for the horrible working conditions and in Japan everyone is set to work. Women, young children and men, all work everyday for low wages and under harsh, unhealthy conditions. Japan is up against tragic conditions. Women on average have 1.8 children in their lifetime, living in Japan. And to keep a stable population an average of 2.0 children per lifetime is expected. Japan is falling short on reproduction numbers, as they did not reproduce over a million children in one year. But they had,”the the estimated number of deaths this year – a postwar high of 1.37 million.” on the bright side Japan has a very high life expectancy of 87.2 years, but will that keep their population where it needs to be?
With Japan’s current set back, I don’t know what they could do to come back. They are soon allowing immigrants into Japan as “Blue-collar workers”. will blue-collar workers allow their population to replenish itself or is Japan going to go on an endless decline. I am at a lost for words, as I can’t think of a change that can come to Japan. Hopefully their next reproduction stage to come will put Japan in a better place than it is currently in.
McCurry, J. (2018, December 27). Japan shrinking as birthrate falls to lowest level in history. Retrieved February 22, 2019, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/27/japan-shrinking-as-birthrate-falls-to-lowest-level-in-history
This case with Japan is a pretty frightening one. With the population unevenly distributed, the country’s productivity could be drastically thrown off. With our own birthrate slowing down, we have to make sure that we do not reach this uneven distribution in the US. If we do, it could mean our economy and country could be at risk and the environment could become unpredictable.
Allowing immigrants into Japan as “Blue-collar workers” to replenish itself to prevent an endless decline is a hopeful solution. This shows how huge the problem is and if Japan takes more action and do what’s necessary, maybe they can save their depleting population.
It is scary to think that Japan will be so unevenly distributed with ages that there will be a significantly less amount of people in the working age and more people in the retired/elderly age. This could completely change the economic productivity in Japan that could, in turn, create havoc for the countries involved with Japan’s economy as well. Why is this happening? Could Japan create some government services to help with childcare so more people could afford more children?