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submitted 5 months ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/world@lemmy.world

Japan’s fertility rate, which has seen a precipitous fall for many years, has reached another record low as the government ramps up efforts to encourage young people to get married and start families — even launching its own dating app.

The nation of 123.9 million people only recorded 727,277 births last year, according to new data released by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare on Friday. The fertility rate – defined as the total number of births a woman has in her lifetime – dropped from 1.26 to 1.20.

For a population to remain stable, it needs a fertility rate of 2.1. Anything above that will see a population expand, with a large proportion of children and young adults, as seen in India and many African nations.

But in Japan, the fertility rate has been well below that stable marker of 2.1 for half a century, experts say – it fell below that level after the 1973 global oil crisis pushed economies into recession, and never recovered.

Still, the government is now racing to soften the impact, launching new government agencies to focus specifically on this problem. It has launched initiatives such as expanding child care facilities, offering housing subsidies to parents, and in some towns, even paying couples to have children.

In the capital Tokyo, local officials are trying a new tack: launching a government-run dating app, which is in early testing phases and will be fully operational later this year.

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[-] volvoxvsmarla@lemm.ee 17 points 5 months ago

Honestly give me a 24 hour work week with a median salary income and I'll become a birthing machine

[-] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 5 points 5 months ago

Wait, on which end of things? Because I'm imagining you as a woman, laying down, knees in stirrups, spread wide with a hospital sheet draped over. And between your legs is a convayer belt. Baby pops out onto the convayer belt, and starts down the line. Then another pops out......and another........and another.

It's like a looping gif.

[-] match@pawb.social 6 points 5 months ago
[-] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 2 points 5 months ago

NEVER!!!!

imagines more horrific things. Like candy scented cockroaches. They smell like candy so dumb kids will eat them

[-] volvoxvsmarla@lemm.ee 2 points 5 months ago

I'm sorry to disappoint you there but that's not how childbirth works, even after the industrial revolution. This here might be a good start to see why a conveyor belt system isn't feasible with kids

[-] Droechai@lemm.ee 1 points 5 months ago

I'm betting conveyor belt is way better than a rope and pulley system though

this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2024
81 points (95.5% liked)

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