By Yoree Koh
Despite Japan’s best efforts to nudge the birthrate upward, the country’s fertility rate has for the most part remained stubbornly flat. But now the government has a new number to hone in on to put a zip in procreation: 3 million yen, or about $37,200.
The government’s annual white paper focusing on childbirth and rearing showed that most young men and women were keen on getting hitched sometime in the future – 83% of men and 90% of women surveyed in their 20s and 30s, in fact. Yet the marriage rate in 2010 fell to 5.5%, a fresh all-time low.
And in Japan, where marriage is still widely viewed as coming before family planning, the decline in wedding statistics further stokes concerns about the country’s static birthrate.
The most widely cited reason for stalling on getting married for men, and second-highest among women, was anxiety over whether the wedded couple would be economically comfortable enough: It seems 3 million yen in annual income is the magic number.
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