Children’s Day and young Japanese parents’ fears

May 4, 2009

Children’s Day and young Japanese parents’ fears

May 5th is Children’s Day or one of the 17 national holidays in Japan. Public and other events take place across the country to encourage the growth of children. Prime Minister Taro Aso’s 2-trillion-yen cash handout scheme, aimed at resuscitating the economy hurt by the global financial crisis, calls for extending 20,000 yen to those aged up to 18 years. This compares with the regular amount of 12,000 yen. “We are basically happy about the cash handout, but we know this will be financed by an additional national debt issue,” a young father told a TV interviewer on the street. “I have a mixed feeling when I think about the already bad national finances for the future generation,” he said.
A waka poem composed by Yamanoue Okura, a court official who was active in the early eighth century, and included in the Manyoshu (ten thousand leaves) poem anthology goes:

How actually valuable should silver, gold or jewels be?
Even these precious things never match children.
(A personal translation)

The population of children in Japan has been declining steadily in the past decades. The proportion of those aged 14 years or younger relative to the total population has fallen to 13.4 pct this year, down 22 points from 35.4 pct in 1950, according to a government estimate.

Experts have presented prescriptions for boosting Japan’s birthrate in order to increase the number of children. They cite a number of reasons for the declining birthrate, including changes in people’s views about families and an increase in the number of working women.

Young couples actually hope to have children, but the social and economic situation is hard for them to raise children, said one expert. “We must take various measures steadily to create an environment for young people to raise children without fears.”

The cash handout scheme has been branded as a pork barrel policy by opposition parties. The money will reach households in most regions from early to mid-May. People, especially those with young children, should carefully consider how to use the money.