What's Behind Japan's Plummeting Birth Rates?

Declining birth rates in developed nations are bringing drastic changes. Fewer children results in a smaller working class and less tax support for a proportionately larger aging population, driving the need for immigration to fill jobs.

Japan in particular has one of the lowest birthrates in the world, and it has been declining for fifty years. Last year saw a record low number of births, with just over 750,000 (Guardian, February 28, 2024). Demographers predict that, at this rate, Japan’s total population will decline by 30 percent by 2070! Marriages in Japan have also declined to their lowest level in 90 years. This trend prompted one of Japan’s cabinet ministers to opine, “The period over the next six years or so until 2030s, when the younger population will start declining rapidly, will be the last chance we may be able to reverse the trend.” Surveys of the nation’s young adults suggest that factors such as “bleak job prospects, the high cost of living that rises at a faster pace than salaries and corporate cultures that are not compatible with having both parents work” contribute to a disinterest in marrying and starting families. Our modern societies seem to care far more about work than about family (BBC, February 28, 2024).

Today, marriage and family are often seen as inconvenient, undesirable commodities. Gone are the days when most children were excited to grow up and build a family of their own. Marriage and family are no longer life goals for many, and this can lead to the slow—and then rapid—decline of Western civilization. The sad truth is that this world has been deceived by Satan the Devil (Revelation 12:9), and too many have been led to believe marriage and family are irrelevant and unnecessary. In ignoring or discarding the Bible as their primary guide for life, modern societies have lost track of the true purpose for these vital institutions. However, God created marriage and family for an incredible purpose. To learn more about that purpose, read What Is the Meaning of Life?