July+9

WebQuest ( **webquest**.**sdsu**.edu/matrix.html )

人口減少社会（「[|子どものニュースウィークリ」ー] ）

[]

=人口減少社会=

深刻な「少子高齢化」
●イラスト　スタジオスパイス（佐藤加奈子） 総務省（そうむしょう）は、今年３月末現在、日本の男性の人数が前年の同じ時期に比べて約１万人減ったとの人口調査結果（ちょうさけっか）を発表しました. 男性の人数が減るのは、１９６８年に調査を始めて以来初めてです. また、女性を含めた総人口の伸びも０・０４％増で、過去最低でした. 経済成長（けいざいせいちょう）や社会保障制度（しゃかいほしょうせいど）など、社会に大きな影響（えいきょう）を与える「人口減少社会」の到来（とうらい）が間近にせまっています.

減る「支え手」
人口が減ると、なぜ問題なのでしょうか. 国立社会保障・人口問題研究所は、総人口は２００６年に１億２７７４万人でピークとなり、２００７年から減少し、２０５０年には１億５９万人になるとみています. 原因（げんいん）は、女性が一生の間に産（う）む子供の平均数（合計特殊出生率（ごうけいとくしゅしゅっしょうりつ））が２００４年で１・２８９ととても低く、子供の数が減る「少子化（しょうしか）」にあります. 同時に６５歳以上のお年寄りが増える「高齢化（こうれいか）」が急速に進んでいます. これを「少子高齢化」と呼んでいます. 一番の問題は、これによって、「支（ささ）え手」が減ることです. １５～６４歳で、所得（しょとく）をえるために働いている人と、働きたいが職につけない人を合わせた数を「労働力（ろうどうりょく）人口」といいます. この人たちが、支え手となります. 支え手が減ると、物やサービスを生産する力が低下して、利益が上がりません. その結果、会社や個人が払う税金（ぜいきん）や年金（ねんきん）保険料が減り、これを利用して行っていた国や自治体の様々なサービスができなくなってしまうことになります.

国民負担倍増
中でも深刻（しんこく）なのは年金、医療（いりょう）、介護（かいご）など社会保障分野への影響です. 社会保障制度は、「世代間の助け合い」でなり立っています. 会社や個人が「負担（ふたん）」をして、個人が高齢者となった場合に「給付（きゅうふ）」を受けます. 現在の社会保障費は８５兆円ですが、２０年後には１６８兆円になると厚生労働省（こうせいろうどうしょう）はみています. それは国民の負担が倍増することを意味しています. 現在、総人口の２割をしめるお年寄りは、２０４０年には３３％をこえます. 介護が必要なお年寄りが増えるのに、「支え手」が減るので、このままでは制度自体がくずれてしまいます. では、どんな解決策（かいけつさく）があるでしょうか. まず、増えるばかりの費用を低く抑えるための改革（かいかく）です. さらに、支え手を増やすことですが、女性や若者、高齢者が、そのカギをにぎっていると言われています. 厚労省が最近まとめた報告書でも、〈１〉出産しても働き続けられる環境整備（かんきょうせいび）など、女性が仕事につく支援（しえん）〈２〉定職につかないフリーターの正社員への登用など若者が仕事につく支援〈３〉お年寄りが仕事につく支援――などとなっています.

仕組みに問題
戦後、日本の主な支え手は健康な成人男性で、年齢とともに地位と賃金（ちんぎん）が上がる「年功序列（ねんこうじょれつ）」、一度会社に入れば解雇（かいこ）される心配のない「終身雇用（しゅうしんこよう）」が保障されてきました. 一方、女性は結婚や出産で仕事をやめて、家事と育児をしてきました. しかし、この仕組みが、少子化と労働力不足を引き起こしたとも言われています. 「子供を産んでも働きたい」などと思う女性はたくさんいます. しかし、実際には、子育て中に会社を休める「育児休業制度」が取れなかったり、保育所不足など子育て環境は整っていません. 出産後も同じ仕事を続けている女性は、事務職では２割にとどまっています. また、夫が家事をする時間も日本は世界の国々に比べとても短いということです.

働く女性支援
では、同じ問題に直面する国々はどうしているのでしょうか. 北欧（ほくおう）諸国では仕事と子育てを両立させる支援策が充実（じゅうじつ）しています. スウェーデンでは育児休業が１８か月、休業中も給料の８割が保障されます. ９割のお父さんが「パパ休暇（きゅうか）」を取って、育児を積極的に行っています. フランスでは結婚しないカップルから生まれる子供が４割にも上ります. 政府がベビーシッター費の大半を給付するなどの手厚い支援もあり、２４～５９歳の女性の８割が仕事をしています. 働く女性の割合が高い国は、出生率も高くなっているようです. 女性へのこうした支援は、支え手の確保（かくほ）と人口増加を一度に進める「一石二鳥（いっせきにちょう）」の策なのです. 人口増加を見込んでいたいまの社会や家庭の仕組みは、戦後６０年たって時代に合わなくなりました. 人口減少社会では、年齢や性別に関係なく、それぞれがライフスタイルにあった働き方で、支え合うことが不可欠です. 人間にやさしい社会を目標にした新しい仕組み作りが求められています.

（2005年8月9日 読売新聞）

Asahi.comより []

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

BOOSTING THE BIRTHRATE =Holdout singles stalling birthrate=

Modern sign of times: First comes finances, then marriage, then maybe baby carriage
By NATSUKO FUKUE and SAYURI DAIMONStaff writers Japan's low birthrate has accelerated the graying population. According to the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, the past 29 years have seen a continuous decline in the number of people under age 15. There were just 17 million of them as of April, down 190,000 from a year ago. The nation's total fertility rate — the number of children a woman would bear throughout her life if she follows the age-specific fertility rates of a given year — was only 1.37 in 2008, although it has been slightly increasing since 2005, when it hit a record low 1.26. Other parts of Asia share the same dilemma, including South Korea, whose total fertility rate stood at 1.26, Singapore at 1.3 and Hong Kong at 1.1. in 2007, according to the World Health Organization. A shrinking population poses serious socioeconomic problems, including the difficulty of maintaining welfare, providing social security benefits and ensuring economic growth. Both the government and private sector have begun efforts to rectify the situation, including providing child-rearing allowances and building more nurseries. But the prospects for the future remain increasingly dim. "The fertility rate has been declining since the 1980s (except for the past few years) while single people have been on an increase," said Masahiro Yamada, a Chuo University professor specializing on family studies, adding that a large number of singles are not even in a relationship. Yamada said up to 80 percent of singles over age 30 don't have a partner. "How are they going to have a child in such a situation?" he asked. The clock is ticking and experts are urging the government to act. They believe the key to turning the population decline around is to encourage women who were born during the 1971-1974 baby boom to have children. The pressing issue is that they will soon turn 40 and it will be difficult to reverse the population downtrend after this generation. But many young singles feel no pressure to marry, like Yoko, a 29-year-old civil servant in Fukuoka who declined to give her last name. "A lot of people around me got married over 35. Marrying young does not necessarily mean they are happier," she said, noting she has been focusing more on her career. To her, marriage means no time for herself and she still wants to pursue her career and hobbies. "I know about the risks of giving birth later in life. So hopefully I can give birth before 35. To do that, I probably have to marry a few years before that." Another reason young people are not enthusiastic about looking for a partner, Yamada said, is because many enjoy the "parasite singles" lifestyle, that is, living with and being financially dependent on their parents. There is also the widespread assumption that once a marriage begins, the husband will be responsible for providing the financial support, he said. Data back this up. In a Cabinet Office survey in 2007, 44.8 percent of 3,118 respondents said the husband must work and his spouse must be a housewife. "Women stay with their parents until a financially stable man comes along. Male temp workers or those on low incomes tend to give up the notion of getting married," he said. It isn't that single women want to be housewives, Yamada said. But they hope to marry someone with a high income so they can choose whatever job they like. "But expecting to marry a man with high income is like a gambling," he said. The tendency to marry later in life also contributes to the low birthrate. A survey by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research indicated couples who wed later in life hesitate to have more than one child because it is physically challenging. Tomoko Tejima, who is 41 and expecting her first baby this month, is one of those who believe it would be difficult to have more than one child. A Chiba resident who works for a Tokyo publisher, Tejima married when she was 34. At that time, she thought she would soon get pregnant. "I am completely healthy. I never thought I would not become pregnant until I've turned 40," she said. People around her had said she can have a child even after 40 thanks to modern medical technology. But she regrets not trying to have a child at a younger age. "I'm lucky that I got pregnant. But since pregnancy becomes more risky as we get older, I should have thought about having a child much earlier," she said. "I want to tell my female colleagues that if you want a child, start thinking about it early." Even though young couples still manage to marry, the costs of child-rearing, especially for education, place a heavy burden on them. For example, if a child received public education from age 3 through 18, the total cost would be about ¥5.51 million, according to a 2008 survey by the education ministry. If a child goes to private schools for the entire period through high school, the cost would jump to ¥16.63 million, it said. To ease this burden, the government this fiscal year introduced a tuition wavier program for public high schools and began providing financial supporrt for those who go to private schools. The total cost of university tuition and student living expenses could also cost between ¥1 million and ¥2.5 million a year, according to a 2006 survey by the Japan Student Services Organization. Aiming to support families financially, the Democratic Party of Japan-led government on Tuesday began giving ¥13,000 per child per month to parents until the child finishes junior high school. "(The government's support) may not directly boost the birthrate, but it gives a sense of security to families," said Toru Suzuki, senior researcher at the population institute, adding that France has more straightforward assistance, which is paid only when a family has a second child. In France the monthly equivalent of ¥14,000 is given to the second child, while in Germany a family receives ¥18,500 to ¥22,000 per child per month. Professor Yamada said providing allowances will help couples with small children because their income is declining. In 1994, the average income of a household with children under 6 was ¥6 million, but it dropped to ¥5.5 million in 2004, he said, noting more recent figures may be much lower because of the global financial crisis. But the government programs will only go so far, because they are targeted only at married couples with kids, Yamada said. Singles need to be prodded into the "kon-katsu" (marriage-hunting) quest. Encouraging more singles to search for a partner would be a big step toward reversing the declining birthrate.
 * [[image:http://www.japantimes.co.jp/images/photos2010/nn20100602f1a.jpg width="350" height="277" caption="News photo"]] ||

[]
 * Japan's kindergartens could serve families better**

By **[GORDENKER|ALICE GORDENKER]** Procreation just ain't what it used to be. Last month, the Japanese government announced that the nation's birthrate fell in 2003 to an all-time low of 1.29. The rate, which measures the average number of times a woman gives birth in her lifetime, dropped from the previous low in 2002 of 1.32. Here in Tokyo, the birthrate is just 0.9978, which means the capital has the dubious distinction of being the first area in the country with a fertility rate below 1. This was in the newspapers the morning I went to Yokohama to visit my friend Keiko, so I happened to mention it over lunch. What a mistake! My casual remark set off a furious tirade about how she couldn't find a //yochien// (kindergarten) for her daughter. "I tried every kindergarten within reasonable commuting distance but couldn't get her in anywhere!" she complained. "There simply aren't enough spaces, particularly for 3-year-olds." Keiko was getting loud. People in the restaurant were starting to stare. "Did you know that at one yochien parents camped out in line for two weeks before registration?" Keiko pointed her fork at me. "//Shoshika wa doko?// (Who says no one is having kids?)" I understand her point. Since the birthrate has been declining for years, you'd think that kindergartens would be begging for business. But the fact of the matter is that the number of yochien, too, has been falling. And because of population shifts within major cities, there's an acute shortage of kindergartens in areas that attract young families, including "new towns" that offer affordable housing and older neighborhoods that have erected large-scale apartment complexes in recent years. Meanwhile, kindergartens elsewhere have been forced to close for a lack of pupils. Last year alone, 105 yochien around the nation shut down. Compulsory education in Japan begins at age 6, with the first grade of elementary school, so if you want your child to attend kindergarten you have to foot the bill yourself. More than half of the nation's 14,000 preschools are //shiritsu// (private) yochien, many of which have a Buddhist or Christian affiliation. There are also 5,736 //koritsu// (public) yochien operated by local municipalities, and 49 kokuritsu (national) yochien attached to universities. The cost difference between public and private schools can be substantial. Where I live, public kindergarten costs just 6,000 yen a month. Private kindergartens, on the other hand, cost 26,000 yen to 35,000 yen per month for the same hours. And that doesn't include the hefty entrance fee (500,000 yen to 110,000 yen) or the annual building maintenance charges. According to a national survey on educational expenses, most families are paying more than 40,000 yen a month to send one child to kindergarten. You'd think that with that kind of price differential, public yochien would have no trouble attracting pupils. But in my ward, three of our 15 public kindergartens will close at the end of the school year, all due to insufficient enrollment. One is the kindergarten my younger son attended a few years ago. I thought the birthrate was to blame, but other parents straightened me out. The real problem, they explained, is that our yochien isn't offering what families want most: care for 3-year-olds. Until recently, most yochien offered //ninen hoiku,// a two-year program for 4- and 5-year-olds. But Japanese households have become smaller, with fewer children per family, and the grandparents are more likely to be living on their own. There's also less interaction with neighbors than there used to be, and young children can end up being isolated at home alone with their mothers. Parents are now looking for opportunities to let their children interact with others from a younger age. In response, some yochien, particularly private ones, introduced //sannen hoiku,// a three-year program for kids aged 3 to 5. Although the overall number of children in kindergarten has been dropping steadily since 1985, the number of 3-year-olds has been rising steadily. There are now about 40,000 3-year-olds attending yochien, forming 22.7 percent of the overall kindergarten population. In an effort to save my son's kindergarten, parents requested that the program be changed so that 3-year-olds can attend, too. This was done a few years ago at another public yochien in our ward, and the program proved immensely popular. All of its places were filled immediately, and it's the only public yochien in our ward with a waiting list. But the board of education has refused to introduce sannen hoiku at any of our other public yochien. Why? Because private kindergartens complained that public funds were being used to undercut them. I think that's pretty nervy given that private schools are getting their fair share of pork: parents who want to send their child to a private kindergarten in the ward can apply to the local government for generous subsidies (9,500 yen to 15,700 yen a month) to help offset the higher cost. And some parents will always prefer private yochien, regardless of cost, because they tend to offer more academic programs and extras like English lessons, swimming and transportation. Recently, Health Minister Chikara Sakaguchi promised to combat the falling birthrate by supporting families, including ensuring that all young children have access to day care and kindergarten. Unfortunately, that's not how it's working out where I live. When those three yochien close, parents will have no choice but to travel farther to another public kindergarten or pay big money for a private kindergarten. Of course, they might just choose not to have children. Last month I wrote about the challenges of finding something for my older son to do in the summer and asked readers if they knew of programs suitable for foreign kids, particularly during the weeks when Japanese schools are still in session but international schools have closed. I got a few leads: Global Kids Academy offers Japanese- and English-language classes, summer camp and a Tokyo adventure program. There are three sessions between June 7 and Aug. 20. (03) 5447-1913. [|www.globalkidsacademy.com] The New Center for Creative Arts offers bilingual summer camp programs in movement, drawing, painting, calligraphy and performing arts. (03) 5485-8524. [|www.rbr-art.com] The Tokyo Baptist Church will hold a music day camp for English-speaking children, Aug. 9-13. (03) 3461-8425. [|www.tokyobaptist.org] I got far more mail on my son's question: "If you had a choice, would you rather be eaten by ants or lions?" Interestingly, most of the responses were from adult males who seemed to identify strongly with my son's adolescent sense of humor. I won't venture any theories on why that might be, but I will report that nearly everyone said they'd prefer to be eaten by lions, either because it would be over faster or because it would be insulting to be lunch for ants. And a few respondents said ants deserved a break since they're so hardworking.