Tokyo, Feb 15 (IANS) Japan Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed on Wednesday to increase the budget for child-rearing to 4 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in a bid to reverse the falling birthrate.
During a parliamentary session, Kishida said Japan’s public expenditures for child-rearing support reached 2 percent of GDP in the fiscal year ending March 2021, and the government is aiming to “double the amount”, Xinhua news agency reported.
Kishida stressed that focusing on child policies is this year’s most pressing agenda item, underscoring the gravity of tackling Japan’s low births, yet the prime minister did not elaborate on how to procure the budget for the plan.
Last month, Kishida had warned in a parliamentary speech that Japan is “on the brink” of social dysfunction amid the country’s rapidly declining birthrate.
The number of babies born in Japan is set to drop to a record low for a seventh straight year in 2022, falling below 800,000 for the first time since the government began compiling statistics on births in 1899, government data showed late last year.
Currently, the central government offers 10,000 yen to 15,000 yen ($75 to $113) per month for each child until graduation from junior high school, with some limitations on higher-income families.
–IANS
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