The aging of the population is a latent problem in Japan. The Asian country has been grappling with a shrinking society and declining birthrate since the 1970s. Officials fear that, if not resolved, the downsizing of the workforce could exacerbate labor shortages. and curb economic growth.
To the point that a city is offering to pay young couples to move into housing projects where older residents live.
Measure. Starting next month, the city of Chiba will subsidize up to 2,000 euros for newlyweds settling in the buildings. Only those under 39 years of age can apply. And those recognized as “partners for life” under the city’s partnership system, launched to recognize LGBTQ couples coming together in a country where same-sex marriage is illegal, are also candidates.
It is an effort to reverse the aging of the area’s population. The city hopes to attract younger residents to counter the aging population in housing complexes. “We’re hoping that the young couples potentially moving into these buildings will help businesses or fill the employment gaps we’re seeing in this area,” said Takeshi Tanikawa, the city’s deputy director of building management, in this Vice article.
Japan’s problem. The country has the oldest society in the world, we have told it in Magnet. Y more than 35% of its population is expected to be 65 years of age or older in 2050, a trend that poses risks to economic growth and depletes public finances. Hence, terms such as “meiwaku“, or “to be a nuisance”.
Japan is experiencing what they call a “birth crisis”, which has been declining for nine consecutive years. Japan’s fertility has dropped to less than 1.5 children per woman and is mainly due to modern access to contraceptives and the prioritization of work over marriage and domestic life.
Shortage of labor force. Officials fear that, if not resolved, the shrinking workforce could exacerbate labor shortages and slow economic growth. Less urban areas like the city of Chiba, formerly dubbed the “ghost town,” have largely borne the brunt of these problems. In Japan, as seen in many other nations, young people move to the capital in search of better job prospects. This leads to a concentration of people in the big cities and suburbs that disappear.
desperate solutions. To survive, municipalities in those places must find creative solutions to attract young people. In 2017, the town of Kosuge in Yamanashi Prefecture began building affordable tiny houses to attract young people. In Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, an elegant space opened in 2019 co-working which also functions as accommodation to provide young entrepreneurs with places to start their businesses.
For the city of Chiba, a cash payment can be the last push that young couples need to move, in addition to the picturesque landscape of the city and its convenient location. “It’s surrounded by the ocean, rivers and big parks, but it’s not far from the city,” Tanikawa said. In addition, the danchi (housing complexes) where applicants must live to receive compensation are located near schools, daycare centers and stores, making it a convenient place to live for those who want to start a family.
aged cities. According to the city of Chiba, more than 36% of the residents in these danchi are over 65 years old. That is 10% more than the total population of the city. In some buildings, more than half of the inhabitants are elderly. As the national population fell by 0.51% in 2021 to 125.5 million, Japan’s suburban prefectures have seen the largest drop in population.
But even the Tokyo metropolis, long a top destination for domestic and foreign migration, has seen a decline. In 2021, the capital’s population fell for the first time since 1995, by 0.27%, in part because strict border controls limited the number of incoming foreign workers.
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