SW News: Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated in his address to the legislature that the administration will concentrate on increasing the birth rate in 2023. Only 800,000 births were registered in the nation last year.

His address focused on the country’s decades-long demographic decline, which, in Kishida's words, is pushing Japan to the brink of being unable to maintain social functions.

Japan now has the world's second-highest proportion of people aged 65 and over - about 28% - after the tiny European state of Monaco, according to the World Bank.

The decline of Japan’s population is rooted in decades of low fertility. The government intends to quadruple expenditure on child support in 2023 after the eagerly awaited Children and Families Agency starts operating in April.

The Japanese prime minister outlined the three areas on which action will concentrate during his first news conference of the year. The first is providing families with dependent children with direct financial assistance, the second aims to improve daycare, and the third aims to assist working parents in striking a better work-life balance.

While many nations are concerned about the long-term demographic decline, Japan is by far the most at risk, and the nation is still woefully equipped to handle the problem.

If the issue is not resolved, Japan will eventually be forced to choose between a terrible fiscal collapse as the debt burden overwhelms citizens' willingness and ability to pay, or an eternal cycle of tax increases and benefit reductions that would further impede economic progress. It is unrealistic to believe that a Japan like this could maintain its current level of alliance commitments and international obligations, let alone defend itself effectively.

In the end, Japan's demographic problem will demand a fundamental reevaluation of national goals, severe labor market reform, and a significant shift in how its people view work, gender relations, and the raising of children.

Last week, China reported its first drop in population in over 60 years.