The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is considering supporting matchmaking firms in an effort to reverse the declining birthrate.
The help would come in the form of a matchmaker certification program to increase public trust in the industry and subsidies to support cross-industry tieups, according to ministry officials.
According to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, a ministry affiliate, single men accounted for 11.7 percent of men aged 30 to 34 in 1970, but the ratio had almost quadrupled to 42.9 percent in 2000.