TOKYO, Feb 16 (NNN-NHK) – Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, vowed yesterday, to increase Japan’s budget for child-rearing to four percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), in a bid to reverse the falling birthrate.
During a parliamentary session, Kishida said, Japan’s public expenditures for child-rearing support reached two percent of GDP in the fiscal year ending Mar, 2021, and the government is aiming to “double the amount.”
Kishida stressed that, focusing on child policies is this year’s most pressing agenda item, underscoring the gravity of tackling Japan’s low births, yet the prime minister did not elaborate on how to procure the budget for the plan.
Last month, Kishida warned in a parliamentary speech that, Japan is “on the brink” of social dysfunction, amid the country’s rapidly declining birthrate.
The number of babies born in Japan dropped to a record low for a seventh straight year in 2022, falling below 800,000 for the first time since the government began compiling statistics on births in 1899, government data showed, late last year.
Currently, the central government offers 10,000 yen to 15,000 yen (75 to 113 U.S. dollars) per month, for each child, until graduation from junior high school, with some limitations on higher-income families.– NNN-NHK
