Curbing the decline in Japan's population has come to the fore as an urgent policy agenda item, with the Abe administration poised to set a target of keeping the nation's population around 100 million five decades from now. Behind the move is a growing sense of crisis in government and business circles that the falling population — especially that of the working-age population — is eroding the sustainability of the nation's economic growth as well as its social security system.
The administration plans to beef up measures to raise the low fertility rate, including providing more child-rearing support. Businesses also have a key role to play in creating an environment in which couples feel they can have children.
Recent data are alarming. Births in Japan fell to a record low in 2013 and were outnumbered by deaths by the largest margin ever. The population of 127.29 million as of last October represents a decline of about 800,000 from the peak in 2008.