Advertisement

Japan creates agency to tackle historically low birth rates

The government of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has launched a new agency to tackle declining birth rates. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI
The government of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has launched a new agency to tackle declining birth rates. File Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI | License Photo

April 1 (UPI) -- Japan on Saturday inaugurated a new government agency designed to coordinate efforts to reverse the country's alarmingly low birth rate, which has fallen for seven consecutive years.

The new agency for overseeing child policies, dubbed Children and Families Agency, will address issues related to birth rates as well as tackling child abuse and poverty the government under Prime Minister Fumio Kishida struggles to reverse the population trend.

Advertisement

Fewer than 800,000 babies were born in Japan in 2022 -- the lowest number in over a century of record keeping -- prompting the government to release an outline detailing potential strategies to tackle the issue. The number of births in Japan has now declined seven consecutive years, dropping by 5.1% in the latest year alone.

Kishida has said he is willing to double government spending on children and views the new agency as one of his signature policies.

The effort will be headed by Yumiko Watanabe of the Japanese Welfare Ministry and will employ approximately 430 people, including individuals drawn from local government and private sector partners.

According to the government, the next three years will be crucial in reversing the downward trend in population growth which could leave the country with critically low numbers of people of child-bearing age by 2030.

Advertisement

The agency, which will have a budget of $36 billion for the upcoming year, will oversee certificates requiring employees who work with children to have a clean record. The measure is a response to a series of recent cases involving the sexual abuse of children by babysitters.

Latest Headlines