this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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[–] [email protected] 78 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Yeah well maybe give people some incentive to want a family like maybe some mother fucking downtime from work and maybe some fucking guarantees that the world isnt going to turn into Venus in one goddamn generation.

The Japanese are just being smart.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This is really it. My wife and I are in our mid 30s and are finally at a financial place to have kids. But we work so much, we would not have time to really raise them. If we did have time, then we wouldn’t have the money.

I’m not going to have a kid that we can’t raise properly.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

As someone who didn't see their parents throughout the school year: Kinda sucked.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Won't someone think of the economy??

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

I'm in EU and I don't want to have kids here. Couldn't imagine having kids in Japan.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

It’s not just the Japanese either. All developed economies see their birth rates slow. The simplest way I ever heard it explained is that when your society is agrarian, more children means more labor for the farm, and therefore more wealth. Once your economy moves on to manufacturing or services, and children stop being labor, they begin to cost money. And people slow down. These advanced societies also tend to be larger and more populous and therefore more competitive, which deepens the cycle. Add in the longer lifespans in affluent modern societies and you have this demographic crisis. Especially in Japan where they have standout longevity for genetic and dietary reasons.

[–] [email protected] 77 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Well, they keep sending kids to do dangerous jobs like piloting mechas and becoming magical girls, now there is only old people left

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago

I thought the old people were busy running samurai schools.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I just finally started watching Gundam and damn do they love putting those kids in mechas. Zeta seems to follow the trend and I guess the other series do too lol.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Evangelion at least tried to provide a plot reason for why the pilots all had to be young teenagers. Skimped a bit on explaining why all the support staff were in their twenties except for the two older dudes at the top tho...

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Cuz Gendo wants to fuck them all, probably.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Not the Akagi women, apparently!

[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I knew they had a population issue, but holy shit!

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago

I remember I was out with my girlfriend last year and we saw a huge group of school kids.

We were a little bit shocked and spent a while watching them, simply because we hadn't seen that many kids in years.

(Korea, not Japan, but similar problem)

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There are many people that would immigrate and be willing to adapt to the Japanese culture if given the opportunity.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago

As a foreigner living in SE Asia, it's inevitable that foreigners bring their culture with them. If culture is a pain point for immigration, it's a very real fear.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

If they need any advice how not to proceed with such statistics ask Germany

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Yeah, and part of the gap can probably be explained by life expectancy differences. Germany faces a tough time by 2040 when the big block of 50-59 who most likely pay an outsized part of the taxes as well will have virtually all retired.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

It’s not a holocaust joke. It’s a reference to all the problems in Germany following from the upside down age pyramid

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Given how Japan seems to embrace AI and robots more than any other nation, it makes me wonder if Japan may inevitably have a significant portion of the population comprised of robots.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Japan is also a nation that spends a lot of money for Civil Servants to do every little thing, including giving people directions at stations instead of just leaving it to signs.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

They still use fax machines. Enough said.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

Well it's only a few years after 2015...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Obviously you don't work in the medical field.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Population growth is not sustainable. There must be times when the numbers go down. This is much better than war or famine.