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Could Japan Become Anti-Child as Population Declines?
More people are remaining single and childless than ever in Japan. Could that feed into existing anti-child sentiments in the nation?
By Jay Allen
Once upon a time, being single in Japan after a certain age was regarded as weird, akin to a character defect. That’s changing rapidly as the population shrinks and ages.
Now, new stats show that being single may be closer to the rule than the exception. In turn, the number of childless households is on the rise. Could that movement exacerbate negative attitudes towards kids in public that are already bubbling beneath society’s surface?
More singles, less kids
The new statistics from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) found that, as of June 2023, Japan had 18,495,000 people who lived by themselves. That makes singles a full 34% of households. That’s the highest percentage since the MHLW began tracking this statistic in 1986.
By contrast, the number of households with at least one child sunk to 9,835,000. That’s the lowest measure ever recorded for that metrics. The MHLW said the dual…
