Japan’s ruling party is sparking an outcry over its proposal to reduce student debt for those with children. Even if the idea is to revive the birth rate in the country, which has reached an all-time low, it does not resonate with the opposition and the main stakeholders.
A hail of criticism against Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The cause ? His party has proposed reducing student debt for those who have children to stem the fall in the birth rate in the Japanese archipelago. Earlier this year, the prime minister promised “unprecedented” measures to tackle Japan’s declining birthrate, a chronic problem that is becoming worse.
The latter’s political formation, the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD, conservative right), is working on various proposals on the issue, which local media said must be presented to the government by the end of March. But one such proposal, which makes college debt reduction dependent on parenthood, has sparked a wave of criticism. The measure is classified as “bad” by the opposition. Worse, on Twitter, netizens believe they are “being treated like cattle.” “It’s like saying, ‘Pay with your body!'” protested one user.
30% of Japanese are 65 years and older
Masahiko Shibayama, the ruling party lawmaker who heads the committee working on the file, assured the Japanese media that the measure was intended to provide financial support to families, not to sanction childless homes. Because of the very low birth rate, the country is, according to the Japanese prime minister, “on the verge of social inability to function”. 30% of the total Japanese population is aged 65 and over. The country has the second oldest population in the world after Monaco. A population that no longer renews itself through births, in 2022 the number of babies born fell below the 800,000 mark.