Foreign Policy (February 20)
“Children born in the year of the dragon are considered lucky.” This is, however, unlikely to cause a bump” in China’s birthrate during 2024, which is “likely to see fewer births than any previous year of the dragon.” From 2011 (the last year of the dragon), the nation’s birthrate has dropped from 13.27 children to “just 6.39 children per 1,000 people” last year. The precipitous fall suggests “this year of the dragon may be a bit of a bust as people in China shy away from the soaring costs of child-rearing despite government propaganda pushing women to have more children and to stop working to raise them.”
Tags: Birthrate, Bump, Bust, Child-rearing, Children, China, Dragon, Fall suggests, Government, Lucky, Precipitous, Propaganda, Soaring costs, Women
Bloomberg (July 12)
Itochu’s unconventional “tough love worked.” A decade after banning overtime after 8:00 PM, profit per employee has increased fivefold. “What also changed, to the surprise of Itochu’s management, is that more female employees took maternity leave, had kids and came back to work.” This raises the question, “could similar changes help East Asia’s flagging birthrate?”
Tags: 8:00 PM, Banning, Birthrate, East Asia, Employees, Female, Itochu, Kids, Management, Maternity leave, Overtime, Profit, Unconventional
Market Watch (March 27)
Remote work was one of the “few positives” to emerge from the pandemic. Its various benefits have proven “particularly important for working women.” The U.S. birthrate has now slipped to just 1.6., well below the replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman. Remote work “could be a simple and cost-effective way to help women achieve a work-life balance and increase fertility rates for those who want to have children…. U.S. employers should take note, and be more willing to continue remote and hybrid work.”
Tags: Benefits, Birthrate, Children, Cost-effective, Employers, Fertility rates, Pandemic, Positives, Remote work, Replacement rate, Simple, U.S., Work-life balance, Working women
Taipei Times (January 18)
In a development likely to affect mainland China’s growth potential, the birthrate “has fallen to its lowest level in six decades, barely outnumbering deaths last year despite major government efforts to increase population growth and stave off a demographic crisis.”
Tags: Birthrate, China, Deaths, Demographic crisis, Development, Efforts, Fallen, Government, Growth, Lowest, Mainland, Population, Potential
Chosun Ilbo (August 29)
“Korea’s birthrate hit a record low last year due to a declining population of women of childbearing age and as a growing number of women married later in life.” Japan may be lamenting its own ultra-low birthrate of about 1.4%, but things are even worse in South Korea where the birthrate is just 1.187%. Unless the rate increases, South Koreans will die out by 2750. Based on similar projections, the Japanese are expected to last an additional 261 years before disappearing in 3011.
Tags: Birthrate, Childbearing, Japan, Marriage, Population, Projections, South Korea
Guardian (June 8)
Japan’s human population may be declining, but the pet population has reached massive proportions. “Startlingly, in a country panicking over its plummeting birthrate, there are now many more pets than children. While the birthrate has been falling dramatically and the average age of Japan’s population has been steadily climbing, Japan has become a pet superpower. Official estimates put the pet population at 22 million or more, but there are only 16.6 million children under 15.”
Japan’s human population may be declining, but the pet population has reached massive proportions. “Startlingly, in a country panicking over its plummeting birthrate, there are now many more pets than children. While the birthrate has been falling dramatically and the average age of Japan’s population has been steadily climbing, Japan has become a pet superpower. Official estimates put the pet population at 22 million or more, but there are only 16.6 million children under 15.”
Tags: Birthrate, Children, Japan, Pets, Population
