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Opinion

The joy of Rugrats

My two-year-old daughter is the joy of my life. Her fumbling attempts at language these days always bring a smile to my lips, and more often than not, a hearty laugh.

So it's really a shame that so many people in Japan and elsewhere are now choosing not to have children. Sometimes I think if I could just introduce them to my daughter, they'd be overwhelmed by her cuteness and immediately decide to start families.

Bureaucrats around Japan are trying to address the problem of the country's falling birthrate with a number of measures. Most of them involve minor financial incentives of some kind, but they do little to change the fact that having kids costs a lot of money. Worse, for most women in Japan, taking time off work to raise children means surrendering the option of having a meaningful career in the workplace.

The reasons behind falling birthrates in industrialized nations are clear. People no longer need children for family farms or other businesses. And since women now have labor market access, children economically detract from families rather than contribute. I don't think there's any government policy that can change social forces so powerful.

So instead of trying to sway people who are not interested in kids, how about making things easier for couples who want them? And what about working to make more people want them in the first place? Let me offer a few suggestions:

1) Make having babies free. Free child seats or discounts on nursery school are nice, but they cannot compare with complete and total coverage of all costs related to pregnancy and childbirth, regardless of complications. And provide total coverage of all medical costs for children who are born with problems, too. That kind of protection should sway some prospective parents.

2) Offer 100% insurance coverage for fertility treatments. My daughter wouldn't have been born without the magic of modern science (in vitro fertilization), but we had to pay the ¥500,000 bill ourselves, far more than many can afford. People seeking such treatment are the people who want kids the most, so they should get as much support as possible.

3) Start programs in secondary schools to give students time around little kids, for example, by having them teach at pre-schools as a learning experience. Particularly in Japan, many people grow up never having much chance to be around little kids and thereby develop an affection for them. In fact, one of my co-workers confessed that when she held my daughter, it was the first time in her life she'd held a baby!

Like that of Germany and other industrialized countries, I think Japan's population is doomed to fall. But measures like these could help check that fall, and give a new generation of young people a greater appreciation for the joy that is children.

(470 words)

Discussion: What do you think of these three suggestions?

Shukan ST: March 10, 2006

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Opinion The joy of Rugrats By Scott Hards My two-year-old daughter is the joy of my life. Her fumbling attempts at language these days always bring a smile to my lips, and more often than not, a hearty laugh. So it's really a shame that so many people in Japan and elsewhere are now choosing not to have children. Sometimes I think if I could just introduce them to my daughter, they'd be overwhelmed by her cuteness and immediately decide to start families. Bureaucrats around Japan are trying to address the problem of the country's falling birthrate with a number of measures. Most of them involve minor financial incentives of some kind, but they do little to change the fact that having kids costs a lot of money. Worse, for most women in Japan, taking time off work to raise children means surrendering the option of having a meaningful career in the workplace. The reasons behind falling birthrates in industrialized nations are clear. People no longer need children for family farms or other businesses. And since women now have labor market access, children economically detract from families rather than contribute. I don't think there's any government policy that can change social forces so powerful. So instead of trying to sway people who are not interested in kids, how about making things easier for couples who want them? And what about working to make more people want them in the first place? Let me offer a few suggestions: 1) Make having babies free. Free child seats or discounts on nursery school are nice, but they cannot compare with complete and total coverage of all costs related to pregnancy and childbirth, regardless of complications. And provide total coverage of all medical costs for children who are born with problems, too. That kind of protection should sway some prospective parents. 2) Offer 100% insurance coverage for fertility treatments. My daughter wouldn't have been born without the magic of modern science (in vitro fertilization), but we had to pay the ¥500,000 bill ourselves, far more than many can afford. People seeking such treatment are the people who want kids the most, so they should get as much support as possible. 3) Start programs in secondary schools to give students time around little kids, for example, by having them teach at pre-schools as a learning experience. Particularly in Japan, many people grow up never having much chance to be around little kids and thereby develop an affection for them. In fact, one of my co-workers confessed that when she held my daughter, it was the first time in her life she'd held a baby! Like that of Germany and other industrialized countries, I think Japan's population is doomed to fall. But measures like these could help check that fall, and give a new generation of young people a greater appreciation for the joy that is children. (470 words) Discussion: What do you think of these three suggestions? Shukan ST: March 10, 2006 (C) All rights reserved