Japan Should Focus on Getting Couples to Raise Children Together, Says Private-Sector Panel on Depopulation

By Naohiro Tamura and Takehiro Kawashiri / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

17:49 JST, March 28, 2026

A private-sector panel on Friday released a “white paper on population issues,” aiming to build momentum for initiatives involving the general population and companies, due to a belief that government efforts to tackle population decline are insufficient on their own.

The paper was released by the Forum for the Future We Choose, a panel of experts chaired by Akio Mimura, honorary chairman of Nippon Steel Corp., amid growing concerns over the declining birth rate and population decline.

A pressing challenge

At a press conference in Tokyo on Friday, Hiroya Masuda, co-chair of the forum and a former internal affairs and communications minister, said: “The sense of urgency regarding population decline has grown considerably. We hope that the white paper will be used as a basis for working out relevant policies and fostering discussion in communities.”

The forum was established in October last year, mainly by economic organizations, academics and local government leaders, out of “concern that Japan will face an irreversible situation” if measures to address population decline are delayed.

The government published its “White Paper on Population” reports in 1959 and 1974. But at that time, the focus was on addressing population growth, with the 1974 paper stating that “further efforts should be taken to curb births.”

In contrast, the white paper released by the forum aims to broadly disseminate information on the situation and the main factors regarding population decline, and initiatives to be taken, with the goal of “changing the trend of declining birthrates.”

In its opening, the white paper cites population projections released by the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research in 2023. These show Japan’s population falling below 100 million in 2056 and below 87 million by 2070.

It also notes that in 2024, births had fallen to 686,000 from a peak of 2.7 million, with the decline accelerating.

Toward a ‘new stage’

In 2023, then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet laid out “unprecedented measures to address the declining birth rate,” promising to secure around ¥3.6 trillion in funding by fiscal 2028, to go toward lifting income restrictions on child benefits and doubling the amount paid to couples having three or more children.

While the forum recognized the “scale” of these measures in the white paper, in its proposals presented to the government on Wednesday, it urged the government to shift to a “new stage” from fiscal 2029 and to place greater emphasis on “both husbands and wives working, and raising children together.”

Younger people often have little spare time due to long working hours, which has led to calls for work reforms and more remote work.

The need for such measures is implied by the results of an online survey of about 22,000 people ages 18 and older nationwide, which was mentioned in the white paper.

The vast majority of respondents said they considered “the difficulty of balancing childbirth, childcare and work” as a primary factor in the declining birth rate, with 81.8% of women and 70.4% of men answering in the affirmative.

As to measures for tackling the declining birth rate, 85.3% of women and 77.7% of men said it is important for a wife and a husband “to share household chores and childcare, and to shift their mindset.”

The white paper included statistics showing that, according to a 2023 survey, 21.8% of men in Japan work 49 hours or more per week, above the legal standard of 40 hours per week. The figure is significantly higher than the percentage of men who work such hours in other major countries. Other statistics showed that as husbands spend more time on housework and childcare on their days off, the likelihood of couples having two or more children increases.

Super-aged society

The white paper also highlights the challenges for a super-aged society.

By 2070, 38.7% of the population will be age 65 or older, according to the national institute’s projections.

One chart shows 2020 having no prefectures where single-person households age 65 and older account for more than 20% of all households, but as many as 32 prefectures exceeding this threshold in 2050. “We will face a difficult challenge when it comes to building a system of mutual support within communities,” the forum says.

In another survey, 75.2% of those age 60 and older said they feel a sense of urgency regarding population decline, compared to 62.9% of those age 29 and younger, indicating such sentiment declines as one goes down the age brackets.

The forum believes it is essential for people to view the population issue as something that concerns them personally, and it has been holding symposiums across the country. The white paper will be distributed to local governments and university libraries, and can also be read on the panel’s website.