Work hours are long and grueling. Childcare is phenomenally expensive, and that’s assuming you can even find childcare, which is near impossible. Children are expensive. Cost of living is high. Cheating and domestic violence are rates are high. Women have no confidence that they will be supported or be able to provide support if they decide to have a child, and they are very right to think that.
Scarce resources avaliable for women who have children is the reason for the decline. You could never pay me enough to ever have a child in Japan.
Not mention, plenty of Japanese adults grew up being abused and/or neglected by their own parents while growing up in a pressure-cooker society. Maybe they’re thinking twice about bringing another human into the world because of that, as well?
They also have this fucked up idea that pain is an important part of becoming a mother so they don’t really offer things like epidurals. Yeah, no thanks.
Human reproduction is an astoundingly bad deal reserved for the richest and most powerful who can outsources the endless source of problems briefs and complications that it is.
The only reason this continued for so long is that we were too stupid to realize not doing it was an option.
I think this needs an ‘affordable’ thrown in. The free and cheap stuff is really hard to get into, but there are other, more expensive options (though out of reach of most).
plenty of Japanese adults grew up being abused and/or neglected by their own parents
Work hours are long and grueling. Childcare is phenomenally expensive, and that’s assuming you can even find childcare, which is near impossible. Children are expensive. Cost of living is high. Cheating and domestic violence are rates are high. Women have no confidence that they will be supported or be able to provide support if they decide to have a child, and they are very right to think that.
Scarce resources avaliable for women who have children is the reason for the decline. You could never pay me enough to ever have a child in Japan.
Not mention, plenty of Japanese adults grew up being abused and/or neglected by their own parents while growing up in a pressure-cooker society. Maybe they’re thinking twice about bringing another human into the world because of that, as well?
They also have this fucked up idea that pain is an important part of becoming a mother so they don’t really offer things like epidurals. Yeah, no thanks.
I am not personally familiar with the Japanese medical system, but I would not be shocked if that were the case.
Add “treating women really shitty and unfairly” to the checklist.
Human reproduction is an astoundingly bad deal reserved for the richest and most powerful who can outsources the endless source of problems briefs and complications that it is.
The only reason this continued for so long is that we were too stupid to realize not doing it was an option.
I think this needs an ‘affordable’ thrown in. The free and cheap stuff is really hard to get into, but there are other, more expensive options (though out of reach of most).
Do what now? Source?
These links are not for the faint of heart.
http://www.japansubculture.com/child-abuse-in-japan-why-japan-keeps-returning-abused-kids-to-their-parents-until-they-are-killed/
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/02/03/national/social-issues/japan-record-child-abuse-cases-2021/
https://metropolisjapan.com/the-controversy-of-japans-baby-hatch/
And this is only what gets reported. Rest assured, a majority of abuse is never reported.
Poverty is so much more prevalent for single mothers, as well.
https://rijag.org/en/child-poverty-in-japan/