More than 80 percent of the Japanese feel a sense of crisis about the impact that the country’s falling birthrate could have on society, an opinion poll by public broadcaster NHK has shown.
According to the latest poll, 54 percent of respondents feel a huge sense of crisis about the social impact of a declining birthrate, while 31 percent said they feel a sense of crisis to some extent, NHK reported Tuesday.
Meanwhile, 6 percent of respondents said they are not really alarmed, and 2 percent said they are not alarmed at all, it added.
NHK conducted the random phone survey over three days through Sunday and received responses from 1,192 people.
When asked if new government programs to expand childcare support could reverse the falling birthrate, 46 percent said they will not help very much, and 20 percent said they will not help at all.
On the other hand, 3 percent of the respondents said the measures can have a great impact, while 23 percent said they can help to a certain degree.
Japan’s fertility rate, the average number of births per woman during her reproductive years, fell to a record low of 1.20 in 2023, the lowest since record-keeping began in 1947, declining for the eighth straight year, according to figures released last week by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
