Japan Population Policy (period 6)

John K & Mandy W Script Japan’s population is rapidly declining, largely due to the fact that there is a large fraction of Japan’s population that is elderly and beyond reproductive age. This is also due to the fact that many couples at reproductive age are not having children. Nearly 21% of Japan’s population is over 65 years of age, and only 13.8% of their population is under 14 years old. Japan’s growth rate dropped to 1.57 in 1989, the lowest growth rate in its history. As a result, the Japanese Government created the Angel Plan in 1994. The plan was to provide counseling and an infrastructure that encouraged working parents through counseling services and attempting to include both parents in the child rearing process. However, at the time, another bill called the Golden Bill became popular in Japan due to the benefits it offered to retired citizens, not only taking away money that could be used to help increase reproduction, but also encouraging people to not have children so they have more money in retirement. The Angel Plan quickly failed and the growth rate plummeted to 1.23 in 2008, meaning that for every 8.1 births, there are 8.9 deaths. As a result the Japanese government again revised the Angel plan, providing more child-support services such as more daycares and better government support for children. Currently, the Angel plan provides 5,000 Yen to parents with one child per month, equivalent to about 55 American dollars or 164 Peruvian Sol. Sources: 1. Cardiosk, Michael. "Japan's Population Policy: 'Angel Plan.'" AssociatedContent.com. N.p., 27 Oct. 2008. Web. 19 Nov. 2009. <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1117971/ japans_population_policy_angel_plan.html?cat=37>.