Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Thursday (June 1, 2023) a US$25 billion family assistance plan.
The goal is to promote the birth rate in the country, which has fallen to an “unprecedented” level.
The project’s duration is three years.
It provides increased direct aid to parents and financial support for prenatal care and children’s education.
The government also wants to promote flexible working hours and increased leave for fathers.
Japan recorded fewer than 800,000 births in 2022.
This is the lowest number since the data began to be registered.
The country also had an increase in the elderly population.
“The period until the 2030s, when the youth population will decline sharply, is the last chance to reverse the declining birth rate trend,” the prime minister said at a Cabinet meeting on Thursday (June 1).
“It is important to increase the income of young people and the generation raising[children] and at the same time achieve economic growth.”
With information from Poder360
News Japan, English news Japan, Japanese government