Improving child-rearing environment
(From The Japan Times Sept. 5 issue)

出産・育児のために環境改善を

       Japan's population is likely to begin shrinking this year, two years earlier than had been predicted by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. Since the population fell by 31,034 in the January-June period, according to a preliminary report by the ministry, experts do not rule out the possibility that the population may shrink for all of 2005.

       In 2004, the fertility rate — the number of children on average that a woman is expected to give birth to during her lifetime — dipped to an all-time low of 1.2888. That's much smaller than the 2.08 needed for the population to sustain itself.

    The White Paper on National Lifestyles for fiscal 2005, published Aug. 12, deals with the "consciousness and lifestyle of child-rearing generations." It points to the fact that married couples of these generations feel childbearing and rearing exact too heavy an economical and psychological burden. Yet they say they want to have, on average, 2.5 children.

    The white paper calculates how much money is needed to raise children to the age of 21 (as of 2003): ¥13.02 million for the first child, ¥10.52 million for the second child and ¥7.69 million for the third child. It shows that households with less incomes tend to remain childless. Among households with annual incomes of less than ¥4 million, about 20 percent are without children — about twice the corresponding percentage for households with higher annual incomes.

    The report suggests that a decline in the number of permanent jobs for young people is contributing to a deterioration of conditions for childbearing and rearing. Included is the observation that the average real income of child-rearing generations has barely increased in the past 10 years, that about 20 percent of university graduates are working as part timers, and that the annual income of part-time workers in the younger generation is about ¥1.2 million — about 30 percent of the income earned by permanent job holders in the same age group.

    What deserves attention is the fact that marriage between part-time workers has been increasing. The white paper says, though, that just because both husband and wife work does not mean that they should necessarily be regarded as earning enough income to have children.

    Conversely, when both husband and wife hold permanent jobs, it is often difficult for them to devote enough time to children, mainly due to the number of hours spent at the workplace. Young parents are finding it difficult to ask people other than their parents to help them in child-rearing.

    Political parties are proposing to beef up special allowances for households with children as well as the childbirth allowance. For example, the Democratic Party of Japan proposes payment of a ¥16,000 monthly allowance per child until graduation from middle school, and a childbirth allowance of ¥200,000 with the funds raised through the abolition of the tax deduction for married people.

    The Liberal-Democratic Party does not give specific figures for its proposals. New Komeito proposes raising the annual income ceiling for recipients of child allowances to ¥10 million and extending coverage of the allowance to ninth graders with the amount doubled. The Japanese Communist Party proposes increasing the amount of child-care leave benefits and prohibiting night work for child-rearing workers. The Social Democratic Party proposes that the state shoulder all childbirth costs.

    Proposals contained in the white paper include helping to strengthen the financial base of nongovernmental organizations, supporting child-rearing parents in communities, cultivating private-sector businesses that provide supportive services and providing vocational training to part-time workers so that they can find permanent jobs.

    There is no panacea. But the most important measure is macro-economic — policy measures that contribute to the creation of a sufficient number of permanent jobs. Only when people have secure jobs and can expect income raises in the future will they be ready to have children, psychologically and financially.

The Japan Times Weekly
Sept. 10, 2005
(C) All rights reserved

      日本の人口は、国立社会保障・人口問題研究所の予測より2年早く、今年減少を始めると予想されている。すでに今年前半、国内の人口（速報値）は約3万1000人減少した。

      04年には、1人の女性が一生で生む子供の数が過去最低の1.2888となった。人口維持に必要な出生率は2.08とされている。

      8月12日に公表された05年度版国民生活白書によれば、「子育て世代」の夫婦は出産・育児の経済的、精神的負担を感じているが、平均で2.5人の子供を望んでいる。

      白書は、子供を21歳まで育てる費用は第1子が1302万円、第2子1052万円、第3子は769万円に上ると計算している。収入の少ない家庭は「子なし」になる傾向がある。

      「子育て世代」家庭の実収入は、過去10年間ほとんど増えず、大学卒業者の20％はパート労働に従事しており、若年パート労働者の年収は120万円程度という。

      パート労働者同士の結婚が増えているが、パートでは共働きでも子育てに十分な収入を確保するのは難しい。夫婦とも正社員の場合は、ともに長時間労働が求められるため、子育てに十分な時間が割けない。

      民主党は政権公約で、少子化対策として中学生までの子供のいる家庭に対する月額1万6000円の手当と、出産手当20万円を提案。他の政党も対策を発表しているが、自民党に手当額などの具体的提案はない。

      子育て支援策として白書は、関連非政府組織の財政基盤の強化、子育て世代への地域の支援、民間の支援サービス拡充、安定的雇用を促進するためのパート労働者に対する職業訓練などを提案している。

      問題解決は容易ではない。最重要課題は、安定的雇用を創出するマクロ経済政策だ。雇用確保と所得増加が期待できれば、国民は出産への精神的、経済的準備ができる。