Title: Japan's population of children hits new low
Source: http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/05/stories/2008050557182200.htm The Hindu
Date: May 5th, 2008
Summary: In Japan, every May 5th is children's day, but there are now only 17.25 children ages 14 and under in Japan, which is a record low for the 27th consecutive year. Japan now has the lowest population of children out of 31 major countries. Japan now has a demographic shift and will strain government services and lead to labor shortages because of high life expectancies and a declining birth rate. In the next 12 years, the percentage of children will drop while the percentage of people 65 and over will increase. The government states that by 2040, 9.3% of the population will be children, while the percentage of people 65 and older will increase to 36.5%.
1. This article relates to the theme "Interaction Between Humans and the Environment" because it relates to demography and how the birth rate in Japan is declining, while live expectancies are raising, creating problems for the Japanese.
2. Japan has in the past had a high rate of children, but for the past 27 years it has steadily been declining and just recently it has hit an all-time low. This has been occurring in Japan for some time, and hopefully the Japanese can adjust to these new statistics.
3. I am not exactly sure who is writing this, but since it is from a Hindu newspaper, it may be written by a Hindu who is an outsider on the issue.
4. There is no bias in this article at all, it just states the facts about what is going on. It is entirely factual, with evidence to support that and you cannot see the opinion of the writer.
5. I would like to see the point of view of a Japanese leader to see how this demographic shift will really affect Japan and how Japan plans to adjust to this.
6. I think that this demographic shift is mainly caused by the new innovations in medicine that we have today. This new medicine is making people to live longer, making that age group of people become higher in number. It is great that people can live longer, but it does come with conflicts for that country as far as labor goes.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
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1 comment:
That is pretty amazing that a country could have that low of child population. I think you are right about the medicine and how it increases the elder population. I think that Japan should make an effort to increase the child population, because they are the future.
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