It’s just expensive to have kids nowadays. Why take care of a kid when you can’t even take care of yourself? It’s that simple. Edit: Thank you guys for 6.6k likes! I never had this much.
agree, its like rasing children who cant take care of themselves if the person cant do it at all in the first place and there would be no point in going it
Yeah, and it's not just financially, taking care of kids also have time, emotional and opportunity cost. seems like Old lawmaker in Japan still thinks that family must have male breadwinner and female homemaker. at the same time, they also want to increase workforce but do not want the burden of parenthood come into their industrial system.
You plan to have children, Not just bring Them into the world without a purpose of having a family, If not practice safe sex if you're not ready for Children
I agree. I keep hearing, you'll receive "Earned Income Credit"...I'm like "Ok". That earned income credit will not last me a year and this is while I have a job earning under $34K a year. Yes I can apply for more steady income, but so is everyone else. It's competitive.
It takes time and money to raise a child and people have less of both these days. If the government wishes to see more families, the environment needs to support it. Long work hours and less pay is not a recipe for children. In japan, people are shamed for taking too many days off for vacation. How can you take time off for a family?
When locals working for a foreign company in Japan, the staff usually refuse to go to teleconference (with overseas colleagues) at nighttime or weekends or during holiday/vacation. If they did, they would complain about it. I am quite surprised by it because I thought asians would take it in strides as part of the work culture in asia. Is it because they are working for a foreign company (even when no foreign coworker in the Japan office) that they can show the true human nature instead of the usual Japanese behavior?
@@atamo4323 Kind of a ridiculous question, because no one (Japanese, American, etc.) should be expected to do what you just said. You kind of have to be an idiot to agree to that. While agreeing to do overtime without pay is quite dumb, this kind of goes to another level. It's probably just the new generation realizing that they don't have to do the stupid things the past generation did anymore.
The solution is to make it so beneficial to have children that people prefer it to a low-paying job. Also, daycare should not be the normal solution, it should be an emergency solution. We need to restore the respect for parents, who take care of their own children and raise them well.
Rising feminism is main reason for declining birth rate, any average historian know that even during worst famine scarcity birth rate of most nation had not declined and now even when we all have almost everything, we all know why birth rate is declining. Feminist has brainwashed young girl that they should never get pregnant in any conditions and enjoy materialistic life, western nations are spreading feminism in most Asian nation because they know it's only way to destroy Asian human resource, they already destroyed Japan and korean society, India and China are next in Line
It's great seeing the juxtaposition between the old lady saying "young people just wanna do things that please them" vs actually hearing the young dudes talking about wanting lively families and not ending their lineage and also explaining incomes are stagnating so they can't.
Yeah I think a very similar exchange of ideas could happen in my country, Italy, where the population and the birth rate are decreasing aswell.. Older people just don't understand all the various reasons we young people have.. They just think we are spoiled and think only to ourself.. Economical stability is one of the reason also here in my country.. Another very important reason are prospective for the future, also related to climate change and all the stuffs happening in the world in these years.. I really would like to have a kid, but in which kind of world will he/she live? This is what concern me the most.. I'm actually very surprise this topic didn't show up in this interview
It feels like common notion around the world, where older people say "we just tightened our purses and persevered, young people just want to eat avocado sandwich", when reality is even if you are not having fun out in the streets, the money you would saved up are not enough to buy a house and carry the cost of raising a child, and nothing worse than get into debt and leave it up to your child to carry the debt when they grow up. There is a difference being able to afford pay monthly Netflix and being able to afford the cost of housing and children. So of course people go and have fun instead of moping all sad they can't afford to be homeowners, get married and have kids.
@@AndthenonedayIbecameanEXO-L This. I wish everyone could understand this, is such a simple concept but most elders ignore it. But actually also some young adults should understand it better, since I see some people at my age having more than one kid despite having not enough money to ensure them a comfortable life.
old people say that about young people while NOT adapting to a changing world to set them up for success. The old people just want life to stay in the past. Their politics are as if it's still the good old days. THEY are failing the young.
@@nenna95100 I agree with what you said, I would like to have children but first I would like to be married, but all if I'm married I will be afraid to bring a child into this world with climate change and with people pushing they're negative or wrong ideals on to Children these days.
The two gentlemen who spoke at the end nailed it perfectly. For women to want to have children, it's extremely important that the support system allows the women to return back to work easily after child birth. This would mean easily available child care centers, govt school from very early age, reduced working hours for men so that women won't feel they are alone in bringing up the kids, and more holidays per annum so that families can spend time together
if you want to raise the birth rate its better for women to not have to work in the first place, a working man should be able to provide for his family.
@@elainev670 if you are not living in the middle ages then you shouldn't allow Democracy because it's an ancient Greek political concept(not the today republic system only concept) which is adopted in modern era
@@boygenius538_8 Booooo Women fought for being able to work and sustain themselves because otherwise men abuse them or their superiority over women. When a man KNOWS his woman can't leave or do anything without him, he allows himself to cheat, abuse and do as he pleases. Sorry but we don't want it and here we are, in an Era where birth rates fall and unless womanhood and motherhood are not treated as beneath men, it will continue. Men need to step up and realize they can't tread us as their side characters, their sidekicks and those who are added to their lives as commodity. Just like you we want to live our life, pursue our goals, do things we like and not be your maids. Are men dumb or something? You do realize we are human just like you?
A Japanese friend of mine almost never saw her dad while growing up. Dude went to work, when she woke up in the morning and came home when she was already in bed. Imagine working so hard and then you don't get to see your kids grow up. The Japanese work environment is famous around the world for being killer - why would people even think about having kids...?
There culture is wayyy to work intensive they literally treat people like robots it's disturbing. If they want to have a future they'd better wake tf up.
It’s kind of like that in some American office environments too. Perhaps not quite to the extent of Japan… but I know there were plenty of days like that for me where I’d get up, shovel down breakfast, and be out the door before the kids were up- or just as they got up… and get home after dinner when they are getting ready for bed. Made me hate my career. The upside of Covidiocy was telework giving me a little more time with family.
They act like they don't know what the problem is but they know exactly what it is. They need to change they're attitude and policies towards work, but they don't want to change they're attitude and policies towards work. So, shouganai i guess. They say its about more women in the work place but thats nonsense scapegoat excuse. Plenty of women around the world have jobs and kids, it can work if they allow it . The Japanese need to change they're attitude towards work or they'll shouganai themselves into oblivion. Its as simple as that.
Great interview. Interesting how the younger adults understand the financial, physical and emotional struggle of raising children while the older ones simplify it as the younger generation being self-interested rather than being pragmatic. We aren’t selfish, we’re being realistic with the resources available. Plenty of people would be happy to have children, we aren’t happy to have children live through hardship, resource constraints, and lack of quality time with parents.
I wish Africans thought this way...no matter how bad things are ! No electricity, terrible education system, no water ,corrupt government, no Jobs ...Africans will have babies !!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate it so much
no. you are lying to other people and you are lying to yourself. I bet post WW2 Japaneese were in much harsher codfitions yet they had families and kids. but you are spoilt by the comfort of civilization and are too scsry to loose it. you want an easy comfortable life with little to no hardships.
It’s similar in many countries nowadays. Young people delay marriage, or avoid it altogether. Also, many young people don’t want to have children, and I don’t blame them. Japan is not alone in this trend.
@Brandon I'd say it's both. By which I mean many millennials and zoomers don't want kids, but even if they did, which some do, they wouldn't be able to afford them without stressing over money and where to live without lashing out at the kids. And yes, they would be massively in debt.
Yes, life is simply too expensive. College cost is crazy, buying a home is out of reach, cars are too high. The list is endless. All of this seems to be controlled by the ones in charge.
The main issue is the housing market, which is artificially kept ultra expensive, sometimes by a few international corpos like Blackstone (probably is in your town, too). If you can't afford independence until your late 30s or early 40s no one will want to raise a child, and that's a rational choice.
My parents went from telling me and my sisters that babies will ruin our future/they'll throw us out throughout our teenage to college age years, to basically condemning us for not having kids now that we're near our 30s.
Bingo. The trend of western culture treating teenage pregnancy as a negative things is a huge problem when giving birth as a teenager is physiologically the best option.
@@budthecyborg4575 it's the worst option teenage women have higher chances of getting nutrient deficiencies and anemia and higher chances of dropping off education
The older generation is out of touch with how much things cost nowadays. Circumstances are different from back then. Also many people don‘t just „take it and get on with it“ anymore. People are making informed decisions knowing that there are many options out there. Nothing wrong with that at all.
Also I think the internet has A LOT to do with it. Over the internet, people have shared their toxic or traumatizing family stories. And when people find out how truly messed uo their family is, there is a fear that they may subject their own children to that toxicity even if it is unintentional. People feel alone, and don't want to give that to their children without good emotional security and financial.
There was some interesting research that showed that actually, all things considered, if you were to buy the same kinds of things and in the same amount as in the 70s, you’d be spending more or less the same percentage of your income. Yeah, education and housing got more expensive, but some things / experiences (think travel) have gotten cheaper. The problem is, people are lured into buying more: more stuff, more tech, more financial instruments, more insurance, more vacations overseas, etc. It’s more of a consumerist vortex supported and exploited by smarter, more targeted ways to advertise things that are driving this perceived feeling of not having enough money for anything. Worse yet, those things and experiences are now considered ‘normal’, so there’s enormous peer pressure to spend this way
@@jovpal5685 I mean the solution is in your question. Japan is quite isolated bc of xenophobia in government and the general population. The answer would be to incentivize immigration to keep fueling the working population.
Some old people say that choosing not to have children is "selfish". What's really selfish is having children without thinking of whether you are emotionally mature and have a stable enough life to raise them properly. Also berating or guilt-tripping your own children to quickly make grandchildren is unquestionably selfish.
You know I've always wondered what exactly is selfish about it. There is not one non selfish reason for having a child but at least 100 reasons why it is not selfish for not wanting one. It won't hurt the hypothetical baby not being born.
The cognitive dissonance is strong with some of these people lol Not wanting children is not being selfish. It's not like the hypothetical child will ever exist anyway so the point is moot
Actively fighting AGAINST efforts to reduce CO2 emissions by reducing burning fossil fuels to reduce Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is SELFISH and EVIL. Eating and thus torturing animals by eating meat when so many plant based proteins exist is SELFISH and EVIL.
I’m dying at the guy who blamed tv for people not having kids 😂 The older lady that was livid that younger people just seemed to be off enjoying themselves doesn’t seem to realise that the younger generations just don’t want to bring children into the world if they can’t give them everything they need. Younger people are being sensible by not having kids. Just because we can have them doesn’t mean we should.
lasoob, you just showed why the elderly woman is correct - "if they can't give them everything they need". Maybe they don't NEED hardly anything you think they do.
@@elvinr6207 not only that, but because of that many people are more depressed, stress and unhappy in general. Why would you bring a child in this world if you yourself can’t even live a happy life
Love that this is being documented. Very uncommon to see an actual Japanese TH-camr taking to the streets vlogging, interviewing real issues and I’m loving it!
This issue is common to South Korea, China, and even western countries as well - as their societies became more educated and prosperous their people focused on careers and lifestyles instead of having children. The west "solved" this problem through immigration of new citizens but in East Asian societies, immigration is not generally acceptable for cultural reasons.
@@jalfredprufrock620 Even in the west the people that tend to have many kids are religious. Christians, Muslims and Jews. The majority of Japan is shito or Buddist. Neither of these religions promote babies.
@@thomasgrabkowski8283 Families of wealthy countries could have many kids but they'd find themselves economically broke. As soon as poor countries become wealthy they will experience the same.
@@evelynng3521 I wouldnt agree. A lot of women want marriage. The problem is that women just as men are pickier than ever, so people tend to feel like they are settling unless someone is perfect. So this just makes things even shittier.
This is true in every industrialized country. But, I believe the main problem is that adult children no longer live with their parents, but rather they move out as soon as feasible, and follow their career to whatever random city. If you live with your parents, or even next door or in the same neighborhood at least, your parents become automatic childcare providers and you can be more free to work, go to school, go out at night etc.
@@naughtiousmaximus7853 yeah they want someone who is worth the time and effort. if someone gets their ideal partner then having a family will be easier as both of them want the same thing.
For most of human history, people didn't really plan children; they just had them. I'm always dumbfounded when people who didn't choose to have kids ask why young people aren't choosing to have kids. Given the chance, I'm sure many of us would not have been born had our parents had the information we had about the true cost of childrearing and had the science to have sex without pregnancy.
This is so true. I was planned but im the younger sibling. My mom is the oldest sibling and she wasnt planned and my grandparents had her fresh out of high school.
So for thousands of years, nobody figured out that sex leads to pregnancy? Is that what you're saying? How come fertility rates didn't drop gradually instead of suddenly? Why didn't they coincide with "information about the true cost of childrearing"? Why are poor africans having so many kids? You clearly don't understand why fertility rates drop or rise
People of this generation are more sensible than previous generations. They know it is better to not have children when they can't take care of themselves
actually this generation have more fun/distraction lifestyle.... that why old generation matured much faster in their young age... this generation even you 30 years im sure mostly not mature yet.... that why they cant take care of themselves...
Everyone says it is a financial issue but what I observe is people's changing view on what having a child means to them. People around me with many children view them as a blessing, even if they can barely provide for them, while those without view them as a burden and yet another major responsibility.
The different views is also why religious people tend to have more children than atheists because religious people tend to view having children as a blessing from god, while atheists are more likely to view it as just another burden out of many things
Rising feminism is main reason for declining birth rate, any average historian know that even during worst famine scarcity birth rate of most nation had not declined and now even when we all have almost everything, we all know why birth rate is declining. Feminist has brainwashed young girl that they should never get pregnant in any conditions and enjoy materialistic life, western nations are spreading feminism in most Asian nation because they know it's only way to destroy Asian human resource, they already destroyed Japan and korean society, India and China are next in Line
I wish my parents thought more like this before having me. They didn't have financial stability so I grew up hardly eating and living in poverty. I asked them why they had me and they said, "is it wrong for me to want my own child?"
1 child and not financially stable yet? Just 1? That’s good judgement as they knew more than 1 would be very difficult. Consider decisions made by thousands in the US that have 3,4,5 or 6. They live in inner cities and are single parent households. Also many that come across our borders start families immediately. Again 2,3,4,5,6 kids with little financial stability. As compared to the US, those Japanese parents that had just 1 kid are quite responsible
@@s.taylor2545 in my country they see their children as an investment if they get old their children will take care of them or the reason to get them out of poverty.
This problem isn't just prevalent in Japan and South Korea. I'm a woman from Germany and in my mid-twenties. I have a long-term partner and we want to move in together soon, at this moment I live by myself. I really, really want a child or two, however: I leave for work at 8:30am and come back 8:30pm, I have to work 40 hours a week just to sustain myself. After work, my whole body hurts so bad that it's a struggle just to cook and take my nightly showers after work. This month I had to pay some extra bills and I'm left with less than 100€ for groceries even though I already lead a very frugal lifestyle and live in a small apartment. Even with me and my boyfriend moving in together and getting support from the government (~200€ a month/child), we still wouldn't be able to afford it because a bigger apartment would take up most of our income. I'm not the only one in this situation, in fact, most of my friends face similar problems. How tf am I supposed to support a child like this? The government is complaining about the decline in birth rates, but instead of addressing the root cause of this issue, they want more foreign people to come here for work (even if it isn't sure that they'll learn the language and stop relying on government money after settling in). At this point it feels like a huge joke and honestly I'm very angry. I'm sorry that Japan's youth is facing the exact same problem. This is a recipe for disaster, and it's going to wreck this world.
Same here in Portugal, housing and amenities sky high, I’m only 18 but I don’t know if I want children solely because I’d probably not be able to give them the comfort and lifestyle they deserve. :(
As an American its quite tragic to see what America has done to Germany and Japan. These two countries were great before we touched them. Now much like us, they are corporate shells with no soul. The people all have to work to death to just sustain themselves and it gets worse every decade. These governments don't care about us, in Germany they are purposefully replacing Germans with foreign invaders. Before these countries adopted the American economic system their birth rates were way above 2.0+ and could actually raise families. I don't care what anyone says but we should not have intervened in WWII because everything from that point has lead up to this ugly world we live in. People will be quick to bring up mass death but have no issue when Soviets had been killing tens of millions on a much worse scale than Japan or Germany. Or the Chinese who killed millions of their own. Yet we sided with these Satan worshippers. Soviets were doing this for fun during peacetime while the Axis did this only in war time, where massacres etc have been normal since the dawn of time. Many American WW2 veterans regret what they caused. We all thought we were doing the right thing. History always has proven that Japan and Germany have always been highly adaptable and quick to change. I believe in you all!
Sad ain't it! All people in governments pretend and don't care becos they earn big salaries, have good lives where everything is paid for from people's taxes! All they know is spewing verbal diarrhoea!
That transition on 2:45 is perfect. No hate for that old lady, but her words how young people do nothing but selfishly have fun, and then cut to these 3 young guys talking all serious about economical instability and how people can't provide safe raising conditions for potential children... It's not that people became selfish. People are people no matter what era we live in. What changes is our realities, world around. And world around right now is very, very unstable and unfair for people rising into adulthood.
why do you think Japan has had such economic growth since the world war, but has such a low birth rate, even less than the world wars & economic collapse? maybe they just have a higher standard of life which isn't sustainable in terms of longevity.
@@roxas4587 they do have a higher standard of life... but other countries do, too. for example - the USA - and yet the USA doesn't have nearly the same issue as Japan in terms of births. However, the USA has their own problem of a standard of living that is unsustainable for the environment and the economy.
@@PandaPanda-lm7vx USA standard of living is much much lower than Japan's believe it or not. maybe countries like Finland could be an example. but not USA.
US is not even close to Finland in living standards We haw here heating, clean drinkable running water, internet, schools, etc everywhere even in most backwater town in lapland. Gap is huge US is 3rd world country but whit nukes I haw been living both countries i was shocked how evolved they are
@@el3ndir97 USA, by definition, is not a third world country. That statement in itself is false. Whether you’d like to argue the state of civil rights or politics is another issue, or the state of affairs concerning quality of life, but saying the US is a third world country simply isn’t true.
There's three points that need to be addressed in order for Japanese people to be able to build families: 1) Better life-work balance. (Reduce work hours and put a ban on coerced overtime.) 2) Decrease the cost of living and taxes, and increase salaries. 3) Implement various programs to disincentivize solitary activities and encourage group activities.
Nah this wont result in it. More liberal working hours and cost of living wont change anything. its a cultural issue rather than a socio economic one. i think the reason japan wants remilitarization is that the government knows that japan is lacking a sense of nationalism. you must also remember japan has a large portion of its population being athiest/agnostic so most of its economic and social development comes from long and massive projects that embrace nationalism/facism. this is the way the world is heading... sad but true... we need a reason to live, a reason to reproduce, a reason to love our country; even if it is all delusion and tribalism...
I agree, but this won’t fix the major issue. People’s mentality. A wide reaching propaganda campaign is needed to shift the next generation’s mindset towards a family oriented conservative mindset. Not an ideal solution, but this is the major issue.
With debt to GDP ratio...japan must work hard. Their population is the one who carry the burden of debt. So, first they need to restructurize their debt to GDP ratio.
having children for the sole purpose of standing to benefit FROM THEM IN THE FUTURE is so toxic. i was born precisely because my mom wanted financial security in her late years. since the age of 4 i wondered why i was alive and never felt loved the way it should be. everything i was made to do was so i could be successful in the future-- but not for myself; so i could have money to give her. do not do this to your kids.
I don't think it's toxic it probably depends on your mindset and parents. I'm from a family of seven and we are Five girls with no boy except my dad of course. My Mom and Dad Loves us...yes they may yell at us beat us sometimes ( Especially if we f*cked up pretty badly. I'm African and it is not a crime to beat your children so don't start talking to me about "child abuse") My Dad came from a very poor family that had Eight kids, My grandparents worked so hard to train them, My dad was a very intelligent individual and always topped the class. He didn't know if he will be able to go to university but still prepared a lot for the National Exams And got a record breaking result in the entire state! Long story short he got a scholarship to the premiere University of my country and is a well know Pharmacist,Business Consultant and Salesperson. Out of all Eight children my dad was the only one that turned out great. He now takes care of our Diabetic 86 year old grandma by buying her those very expensive medicine to treat her condition and sending her spending money from time to time. If not for my dad she would have died long ago. Because the rest of her so called children couldn't even care less. Anyway I'm saying this story to tell you that your parents don't mean any harm by wanting you to be Economically strong and successful. Even if they are being greedy you still have to help them. After all it doesn't change the fact they went through blood,sweat and tears to raise you. It is after all your OBLIGATION!🙂
@@bunnyx2819 you are wrong. It's never a children's obligation to do whatever their parents want just cus their parents raise them up. By that logic, i can raise a kid and then whack them with a rod till they die cus I took care of them. I dont care, just because it's not considered a crime to beat your children in your country doesn't mean it is not CHILD ABUSE. You can try to sugarcoat however you want but it is what it is. And child abuse is a crime in so many countries even in Asian countries.
@@bunnyx2819 the oc comment is actually relatable, ik parents who treat their kids like future investments. Wanting ur kid to succeed vs. wanting to milk money out of them are two different things. There are bad kids, but there are also lots of bad parents and generational trauma. Also, if you think beating up kids is not child abuse then idk what is haha, that's literally the meaning of child abuse but if that's love for you then I won't judge.
@@bunnyx2819 the point of my post was precisely because of the so-called OBLIGATION you highlighted. i want to be filial because i should be raised right that way and out of love for my parents, not because they made me with my only purpose in life being to serve my parents needs.
Japan is going to be just fine. The thoughtful responses by the people interviewed are indicative of people who are considerate of what kind of future they can give their kids. If EVERYONE thought like this, we would have a much better world. I would be more worried about countries where people have a bunch of kids and don't care for them, abandon them, mistreat them, and then expect someone else to clean up their mess. Japan does not have that problem. They cherish their elderly AND young people, enough to seriously consider the kind of life they can be able to give them BEFORE creating them. It's a healthy mentality. Kudos, Japan.
Idealistic but myopic. "everything will be fine". if Japan's working class literally disappears you will have a geriatric nation -- and no one to "cherish" them Japan is iconic bc of their insulated -- so strong -- culture.. the purveyors of Japanese culture, new ideas, *always* have been youth. Look at QoL data for unpaired men and women... there is no future for Japan [or anyone else] if a population bust happens
"...if Japan's working class literally disappears..." Please illustrate how this will happen within the next 50 or even 100 years, with math and data links. Thanks. I am looking forward to your in-depth analysis. @@Retrofire-47
@@Panamenya it won't disappear... it will just be derelict -- and unable to [financially] support the aging population. so not *literally*, my bad idk. i'm not so sure this even matters. Automation is here and a post-scarcity society means crooked population pyramids mean little: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Population_Pyramids_of_Japan_%28Projections_2065%2CIPSS%29.svg/2560px-Population_Pyramids_of_Japan_%28Projections_2065%2CIPSS%29.svg.png
" ...if Japan's working class literally disappears" Spoiler alert: That absurd hypothetical scenario you just cooked up will never happen, so your point is moot. @@Retrofire-47
Before having a child one should be financially stable, mentally and emotionally prepared. If you can't take care of yourself then it's not yet the time to have a child. I salute those people who think about what future they can give a child before having one. I mean the world today is very stressing what if your child ask you one day why you gave birth to him/her if you can't support them morally, financially and emotionally? what answer can you give?
I wish my parents think like u before giving birth😭😭😭they only thought abt if they could support me financially. All they do after coming home from work is have their eyes glued to the computer for another few hours. Though I grow up enjoying a material life, I can barely hear my parents laugh throughout my whole life. I can’t describe how depressing it is to have no one talks with me and attends to my emotionall well being. Growing up in this dysfunctional family, not only do I find myself having difficulties in communication but also end up spending their hard earned money on therapy sessions and antidepressants…
you see men are more obsessed with carrying on their lineage. have u ever heard a woman saying that? why? simply because their last names will be passed down and they feel a sense of accomplishment knowing their golden dna has created a new life? as a woman in my mid 20s im not ready to give up my freedom and happiness and have my life revolve around a crying baby that needs me to feed it every 3-4 hours. cracked bleeding nipples, lack of sleep, no break away from the baby. your life will be changed forever. when the baby becomes a toddler guess who has to bring the child to kindergarten and swimming classes and art classes. i dont want to destroy my body with pregnancy and have lifelong pain when i already cannot handle period pains every month... men talk about having children like its easy because who gives up a career to be the full time caregiver? who has to be around the crying child 24/7? its still traditionally expected that moms should stay at home to take care of the baby. if the parents hire a nanny and the wife goes on to work, people look at them and say, wow what a bad mom, not taking care of her own child.
why is it all about you you you you you you? The world doesn't revolve around you that's for sure. Keep having your 20s fun until you hit your 30s and end up being a leftover woman with 90% of your eggs gone you'll regret about your life choices now only caring about your fun.
@@Waterbug1591 lol keep projecting. Why does it bother you what this person wants to do with their life? Also, 'leftover woman'? Are you an idiot? People can have fulfilling lives without having children, it depends on what kind of person you are.
What’s weird is that many countries are moving toward this kind of situation if they already aren’t in one. Everything gets more expensive but power to purchase does not rise enough to match it. People can’t afford to buy a house or have children but they have enough to let themselves have fun and enjoy the present.
Post-scarcity is coming... ppl in the vid are talkin' bout "labor". The age of automation is here - no more labor [soon]. Then no more resource scarcity, money is passé. Maybe u get credits. arguably this "population bust" is an omen of change. research population demographics and no one really knows what happens after the post-industrial phase
Dude, this problem is not only showing in Japan, it's a global thing, just that Japan is feeling it more now. This generation don't want kids they can't provide for, i for one won't even think of kids if I'm not financially stable. I'll be so heartbroken if my kid comes to me saying they want to take ballet class and I'm like " i can't afford it so watch TH-cam videos". Thinking of that short dialogue even breaks my heart.
@visitor _t there needs to be a balance though. Not having 5+ kids and opting for 2-4 is better considering the odds are high they’ll all make it to adulthood. However people are more and more having 2 or less kids, which is at or below replacement level, for a multitude of reasons. Eventually, we’re gonna run into a situation where a majority of the population is too old to work/work efficiently and there aren’t enough younger people to sustain them. It’ll lead to the economy being even worse than it already is, if not a total collapse.
They feel more because they are more well educated, considerate and responsible. Whereas America teen for example, pop a baby out on a daily basic to a point that they create laws to prevent abortion. Im not specifically attack America, just happen to be the most popular country. The problem is that the world is overpopulate. Not enough resources to let everyone live a good life, so we have to compete against each other very badly
@@CS-et4fsUS birth rates are down right now too actually, due to the same issues of wage stagnation vs the cost of living, and the abortion bans are because of the rise in ultra-conservative religious policymakers following Trump, not because of "teens popping out babies every day". Teen birth rates have been declining in the US since 1991 and reached historic lows in 2022 actually. The far-right is destroying the US in many different ways currently, and overturning our right to reproductive healthcare is just one small part of it.
@Random17Game Stop talking about people CHOOSING to breed and force death and hardship and suffering onto their children as though it is ANYONE's or ANYTHING's responsibility BUT THEIR OWN. Culture nationalism are NO excuse. PHYSICAL CONSEQUENCES are deterministic. What people CHOOSE to do - POLITICS -- is NOT.
[controversial take] maybe the old philosophy of giving ur child all these fancy gifts/services is now being outmoded? arguably throughout human history the father would teach the son skills, or the son would be self-taught through experience. Why do you need a ballot class? get her some tap shoes and teach her yourself?? rhetorical
The opinion from the younger generation is universal. How can you work on settling down and raising a family of your own if you have hard time taking care of your personal issues plus environment and fast-paced trends. Raising a family involves time, money, and dedication. Know what to prioritize. Do not listen to Musk, that dude is a babymaker. Not all financially successful personalities have a happy life.
@Jase oh my, talking about irresponsible, selfish parents that drag their own children into their own misery and turning these children into their safety net and emotional punching bag, this hits home for me
Elon musk is a nutcase. What does he know when he comes from a rich family and able to afford an army of nannies to look after his kids. Seeing how one of his children wanting to cut ties with him just proves how shitty of a parent he is.
@@mndsph4530 It hits home for many MANY people over the internet who have learned that that is not the normal thing to expect. When they find out their family is messed up they dont want to make children, it is the very last thing they want.
Elon is a mogul with shitloads of cash and thinks is his job to populate earth. The man is smart only when it comes to making money nothing more. Stop listening to him
Didn't one of Musk's kids literally disown him? Like, genuinely stops considering him as a father? I mean if he wants to be a baby factory then go for it - but it's clear that he's not exactly a good dad and his opinions should not be taken as a rule. Like, say what you want about Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates - their kids seem to have a good relationship with their parents.
This is a topic that relates to the vast majority of the world. One of the main issues is the cost-of-living vs personal income. The cost-of-living is vastly outperforming people's wages. It's far too complicated to start a family in an environment where wages are stagnate (or with little growth) relative to the always increasing price of basic necessities. Furthering the complications are climate change, horrendous education systems, work-life balance and the general state of the world as a whole.
I think this is a problem that most advanced nations will / already face but Japan and Korea are in the forefront. People's priorities are shifting and some are actively choosing not to have kids because they want to live their own life. Besides personal choice, it's just simply too expensive to have kids. Whilst government policies can definitely help support people wanting to have babies, there needs to be a huge societal shift as well - e.g. mum's should not be the sole carer, and companies need to let people take parental leave without pressure / impact to career progression.
@@earlysda It is expensive. Housing is expensive in certain areas. If you can't afford rent then you live on the streets. In poor countries you are allowed to build any sort of housing that you can. You can't do that in a lot of other countries so you have to pay rent or you live on the streets.
Both genders work long hours, no time nor energy nor financial means to get married and make babies. The rampant reliance on social media isn't helping either. Not sure if the old lady's comment is true - that young people just think for themselves. I think that's probably the symptom, not the cause. They need to let out the unprecedented stress.
The old lady is playing a dangerous game by judging the people who are paying for her old age social benefits. If all the young people decided to leave the country, there will be no one to pay into the social safety net.
@@MrAnonymousRandom And I suspect you have a habit of judging older people as well. Indeed, the only "ism" that is acceptable, and even encouraged, nowadays, is ageism, with countless people on social media rooting for boomers and older folks to die on a daily basis. I suspect this know-it-all, prideful spitefulness will bite younger folks in the ass in the end, and I wish them nothing but abject misery and suffering for their hatred of older generations.
Work culture in japan NEEDS to change, I know the government has stepped in to force people to take vacation but they need to do more. They really need to force companies to stop over working people to death. They need to limit workhours to 50-60 hours a week and also step in help couples afford housing! The salary and housing cost is bad in Japan.
And then how do you support the older Population? They want us to do the same stuff in Germany. The older generation didnt have enough children and now the goverment is advocating the smaller Younger Population needs to Work more to Support the older generation
In the olden days in Japan, marriage was the key to becoming a full-fledged member of society, and children were a must. Today, however, social values have changed dramatically, and Japan has become a society where diverse lifestyles are respected. As a result, I feel that the number of single people is increasing. Another factor is the trend toward late marriages, which has led to an increase in the number of couples who do not have children even if they do get married.
People say birth rate like they’re not considering that it’s actually women who have to suffer a great deal to carry, birth and breast feed babies - is it possible that women would like to focus on themselves alone and enjoy the one life they get without baby anchors tied around them.
your ancestors werent selfish women who thought about happy hour and new shoes instead of creating families and taking care of them. You will enjoy it until your mid 30s (if you arent there already) and then start coping as you will likely have to depend on cats and boxed wine to keep you sane. Then when you get old who will look after you? All important questions to ask yourself. You wont be a young woman forever.
@@unatco6554 Terrible reasoning for having children. And not even a true issue anymore. Younger generations usually tend to take better care of themselves through healthy diets, exercise and a more active life altogether. We will age slower and better than our parents and grandparents. Of course there are diseases and other unexpected factors that could affect mobility and lucidity, but even for those who have children it's not a guarantee that they will take care of you. Take good care of yourself, invest your money wisely and hope for the best. There will also be plenty of older childless friends to support each other. I will not make children expecting them to be nurses and caretakers, that's preposterous.
@@s.taylor2545 LOL yeah. Men and older people always have the surprised Pikachu face whenever a woman says she doesn't want children. I am not against having kids but I will not raise them in lowkey shitty conditions like I was just for the sake of it. Whenever I have kids, I want to provide them with the very best I can. And I'm finishing Medical school first. Like, no question 😂
Money and stable jobs are just two of the major problems in decreased births. This problem is not exclusive to Japan. The U.S., S. Korea and others face the same problem.
I'm always amazed by elders who accuse us of being selfish when their greed has ruined the environment and the economy for future generations, the most astoundingly selfish act of all. Edit: by greed I mean elders have overwhelmingly voted for policies that conserve their generation's wealth at the cost of educational and environmental policies such as renewable energy, housing, immigration and wealth redistribution that benefit future generations. Japan in particular has a HUGE problem with this; politicians ignore the progressive youth to appease the conservative, rapidly ageing population that keeps them in power. The world they have prepared for us sucks.
People tend to become politically conservative as they age (grow in wisdom). Many struggled to provide when their children were young, but hard physical labor was the norm. The younger generation is culturally separated from the land, and lacks basic living skills people had to have to survive 50 years ago. Your idea of “wealth redistribution” and blaming the “older generation” for “ruining the earth” shows you lack insight. There are just a few very wealthy families who own most of the corporations today. THEY are the ones bribing our politicians, polluting, and hoarding resources. Wake up.
It's the same issue in Korea and China, where women are expected to be the main caregiver. So imagine both boys and girls going through the same education system and putting in decade of hard work to gain all the knowledge and aspiration. Then when it comes to creating a family, women face voices telling them their options are either be a worker and a main caregiver, or let go entirely their decade(s) of hard work to be a SAHP (if they WANT to be one, good for them). They also end up losing financial independence etc. Childcare options are also scarce. Nothing is fair in life, but upon hearing that unfair future, not everyone will be willing to jump onboard.
My country is poor but a lot of young people are having children and that is causing my country to be overpopulated and it's also causing my country to have brain drain and woman are not staying home and taking care of the children they are working same as the father taking care of the children. That is the main problem people want the mothers to stay home only and take care of the children they want them to give up their careers and people will not or do not want to do that.
These so-called countries are defined as "developed countries", but I think the developed country should be called a developed country both economically and socially. It is absurd to call a country where women are still in the second place developed
With today's living costs, only the very wealthy can afford single parent income. Even if women want to be SAHM, they might be able to do that financially.
@@rockyshocks101 women are expected to be the caregivers because it is biological. We are mammals and in 99 percent of the mammalian species the male is the hunter and the female is the caregiver. People hate it but it's the truth.
From rising food prices and living expenses to a worsening climate and more droughts occurring throughout the world, who in their right mind would want to bring more children into this world?
I think not having any kids can be detrimental to you. Humans thrive on long term goals, if you have nothing to pursue life will become boring. And boredom can lead to substance abuse and a whole range of nasty things. But if you have a really big goal set out for you, then I guess that can give fulfillment as well.
@@koenvanwijk2605 using kids for motivation, for a purpose in life, or to avoid life being detrimental to you is ethically dubious. The less children the better the quality of life for those children (earth's resources are finite), and the slower climate change will happen etc
@@g_c6668 Not saying it is the reason to have kids. But having kids will give you and those around you purpose, to deny that is just bad faith. What are you doing about climate change to have a positive impact? Aside from telling people to stop having kids.
@@koenvanwijk2605 There's not much I can do about climate change, I don't have the solution to turn it around. I am not having kids to suffer the consequences of climate change though. I love my potential kids too much to do that.
"The young people today , all they do is have fun" I think it's just that many became educated and we think of what future we can give the child. I mean there is no perfect parents but the youths nowadays are aware of what is happening, the social problems that the Government does not even give a solution, especially here in my country.
Those parents who give birth to children without considering their ability to provide a better life for them, are "having fun", literally, ln their beds. Birth control needs self control, while cream pieing does not.
No in fact its because japanese until about like the age of 18-19, they live in a environment thats not realistic. Schools dont allow any kind of self expression or whatever. You would think 19 is an age of adult, but thats really not the case here.
"I *think* it's just that many became educated" The problem here is, you're using your opinion to claim about something that you don't have evidence to. Many became educated? Every kids goes to school, there's no such thing as "many/less are educated". What would make sense is the LEVEL of education one goes through or how much they are able to understand certain things in life.
I do understand a lot of the things they are saying, I have 6 kids myself. A natural son, stepson, and four adopted girls. It was quite hard not having very much support from my own adopted family, I had to relay on friends to help me. Everything being so expensive and even with people for babysitting is so scary even back then, it was quite hard to find someone that can fit your schedule when it comes to work. 5/6 of my kids are all grown up and have kids for themselves, but it's very difficult to expect to do a lot and got told something else that makes it hard to be confident of being a parent. I did it as a single parent for a long time, and I keep on getting told that "You shouldn't be a mom because you dont have a partner to help you..." which made me think I needed one, and which was the worst discussion ever! I love my stepson but not his father, and it made me sad that I had to give up everything because he and 98% of my adopted family told to "give up and have kids with ONE guy...." the influence of other people makes a HUGE part of "Should I raise a kid or not?" That type of question ALWAYS pops up because there isnt a supportive network for money, environmental, and also support groups for parents or even single parents out there. We get slapped with "Single parents cant do it because it's not suitable for the child's health..." But some have that strength to do it for their kid or kids, parenthood is never easy but its rewarding.
It is not so simple. There is a problem called inflation and mismatch. I remember that Nike wanted to increase the salary of its foreign workers and the governments of those countries sent them letters so that it would not be like that, "a worker cannot earn more than a doctor, that will generate a labor imbalance", and it is true. Because if they slowed down the pace of work, they would lose competitiveness in globalization. It's a pretty complicated problem tbh.
As a person with kids, what the guy in 3:25 is saying, is absolutely correct. Better quality than quantity. We don't want the next generation to be like "the bubbles in the sea", so many yet so easily washed away.
I am a Korean woman. My opinion on this issue is that if you get married and have a child, both men and women have a harder life. You should spend a lot of your time and money on your child. And in Korea, when raising a child, you have to raise it in many competitions. In addition, if I raise a child, the pressure to raise it really well makes me think that I am not qualified to have a child. In the media, a rich couple comes out and raises their children in luxury, and I think that's a bad influence on Korea's fertility rate. I compare myself to others and think about whether I deserve to have a child or if I can make the child happy. In the past, men worked for money and women worked at home and raised children. But these days, most women work in society, too. In Europe, even if men and women work together, childcare welfare is very good, so it does not adversely affect the fertility rate. And Europe has less competition for child education than East Asia. The government should create a society and welfare where people will not worry about having children
@@tammy2234 프랑스 같은 나라는 출산율이 한국의 두배더라구요. 더 찾아보니 이민자들 덕이라는 말이 있네요. 유럽 국가가 육아복지면에서 한국보다 더 좋은 건 맞는 말이라 단순 통계를 보고 이야기한 건 맞아요. 그쪽 말이 맞는 부분도 있지만 안살아봐서 모르겠지만 이란 말은 좀 웃기게 들리네요.반대로 그 나라에 산다고 해서 모든 걸 다 아는 것도 아닌데 말이죠.
“people around me are not having kids so i shouldn’t too” is interesting because people around me (25-30) are having children so i don’t want it 😩 personally i wouldn’t be able to handle the burden of a child, i still feel like a child that just recently gained a little independence (i’m 25)
Japan (as well as many other Asian countries) is extremely big on peer pressure, it's always about caring what others think - in an extremely unhealthy way. What do you think why the majority of people there is doing so miserable lol. Stick out like nail and you'll be hammered down.
same, the more people i see who have kids, the less i want them, because most of those parents seem miserable and have boring lives, they lack an identity.
My thoughts exactly. I'm going to be 25 next month and still feel like a kid, I have yet to learn about responsibilities. Not only having a kid but even thinking about marriage gives me nightmares 😹
Can't speak to Japan personally, but where I'm from a house needs to be a million+ $$$, wages are from the 1970's, and corporations matter to politicians more than the people who voted them in!
That lady saying that young people just want to have fun is so detached from the reality… how is barely making a living with bleak future prospects considered fun. Not to mention a lot of people nowadays deal with psychological issues. Older generation messed up and are a still blaming younger people who have to bear responsibility for the problems older generation generated
It's the same everywhere. Due to the labor market, for your child to have a good life they need to go to college and that's expensive. Since people have moved off the farm into cities, kids are not a source of labor but instead an economic drag on the household. Parents also need to sock away a large amount for retirement. Japan should treat this as a national security issue. If as a nation they can get their birth rate up, they will be much better off than their Korean and Chinese neighbors.
Here's the problem... It's not just the quantity, but also the quality of the next generation that matters. Do we want jerks and bitches for the next generation of mankind? Will people not just pass on their values onto kids just because it's their values? Why should the next generation become obsessed with the darkness when the light that is Jesus Christ will guide them?
@@BrendanRaymondKoroKoro agree, that the politicians serve their corporate and industrial patrons. And those captains of industry keep driving us towards something that may soon not even need us.
I never heard of a nation or civilization that got extinct because they stopped having babies. It won't happen with Japan also. It might reduce further to a certain point but that's not necessarily a bad thing. We have more than enough people in the world already.
I suppose you're mostly correct. It wouldn't happen anytime soon. But somehow if their population got to like 4,000(just as an example of a low number) North Korea may just take it for themselves and then Japanese would really be extinct.
This isn't complicated: super expensive to have a kid + labor markets around the world are more competitive than ever + expected to work extreme hours = people aren't stupid In the absolute best case scenario, the average worker (at least in the United States) can be expected to slave away until they're 62 years of age and hopefully the combination of the money they've saved and social security will sustain them in retirement. In the worst case scenario, you have people working forever, never able to retire and in many, MANY cases, unable to afford the rent where they live anymore and being therefore kicked out. Salaries haven't kept up with inflation one bit, so why would people continue to have kids?
People are finally free to decide against having children without being constantly judged by society, their parents, etc. And that's a good thing, because there is absolutely nothing wrong with not wanting children for whatever reason.
@@zeynepzeynep1571 It's OK not to. Having children is a choice. I understand this as a Christian. God leaves it as a choice that is not imposed upon us. Some people have children who shouldn't and end up unhappy... then the children are miserable, too. That's not fair.
@@snorkchop8134 You're absolutely right! but sometimes I wonder if I think too much, other people not give a second thought, they're getting married or having children easily. I had a difficult childhood and I don't like children that much, but it doesn't get easier to be judged CONSTANTLY by anyone and everyone. Thank you darling❤
@@zeynepzeynep1571 It's true that some people don't give these things a second thought, and that's actually pretty dangerous. My grandma and grandpa didn't give it a second thought either. They didn't listen to God's will or timing. They weren't meant to be together, hated each other, abused my mom and aunt. There were times my mom was near starvation because they never had any food, let alone clothes or soap, and my grandparents didn't care. God never intended that life for my mom... or my grandparents. People act like you should just throw caution to the wind and do whatever seems OK. Please don't listen to them. It's a bad idea. Trust me, you are most definitely not thinking too much. If you are meant to, you'll know deep down inside. If you ever decide you want to, remember in that case that if you came to God through Christ, and waited on His timing, He would provide and have a specific plan for it, so that you wouldn't have to do it the wrong way. If you decide to never have kids, that's fine. There's more to this life than that! :) I hope you're well!
When my grandparents were young, they could have lived off my grandpa's wage but they both chose to work so they could save more money for their family. Who could have guessed what both parents working would be a must in most modern countries, and it's still not enough to have a decent life
Elon Musk's statement is spot on. Most Japanese do not speak English today, but the few who do are choosing to work abroad because the salaries in Japan are much lower than in the U.S. or China. Furthermore, high taxes are imposed on salaries to support the elderly, who make up the majority of the population. Who would want to live in such a country? Even if they work hard, their salaries will not go up because the economy has not grown since 2008. It is very difficult to raise children in this country. It is a shame that my country is falling.
English education in Japan is so bad lol, teachers teaching English there have no whatsoever energy and no English practice social interactions. They only see it as academic and not seen as a powerful asset to have to able to communicate everywhere at ease and be able to travel/work abroad.
The work culture seems like a huge issue. Plus Japan is statically a depresses nation. I think it's a mixture of economics and social. I don't thing the government having benefits will help, as some European nation have done so and it did nothing. And they don't have nearly as much of a bad time. Japan has been stagnant since the 90s economically. And lots of debt.
In my opinion, the response of the lady starting at 2:08 can probably tell how sustainable it was to live and reproduce during their time, to the extent that they can still aspire to have children, not just for their future, but for the future of their country as well. Versus how it's seemingly unsustainable in this current time to aspire to have children, not just for potential parents to protect themselves from economic and emotional backlash, but to also protect potential children from the ramifications of the currently worsening conditions. Makes me question whether we're currently entering an unsustainable future or not. But I do hope this is not the case in other parts of the world.
Actively fighting AGAINST efforts to reduce CO2 emissions by reducing burning fossil fuels to reduce Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is SELFISH and EVIL. Eating and thus torturing animals by eating meat when so many plant based proteins exist is SELFISH and EVIL.
2:08 Stupid ignorant spoiled selfish woman who pretends to know everybody else's situation or what they do, and thinks she is entitled to FORCE people to maintain the status quo for her. Actively fighting AGAINST efforts to reduce CO2 emissions by reducing burning fossil fuels to reduce Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is SELFISH and EVIL. Eating and thus torturing animals by eating meat when so many plant based proteins exist is SELFISH and EVIL.
It's always funny to hear older generations comment on us as "selfish" if we don't want to have kids. They were living in a time when there were no other ways, and they had to have kids, which doesn't remotely mean that they are "selfless".
feminism is the reason why women have to go into the workforce now, salaries and higher cost of living also mean men cant be the sole bread earners which has exacerbated things
@@missingno88 then earn more, the reason women work nowadays is due to feminism AND the fact that males are too poor to afford anything let alone a house. Yet they expect women to be housewife to males
I am Japanese .Sometimes I think about this topic. I think the reason why there are so many people who don’t get marry in Japan is Japanese people is always looking for ideal partner for them nowadays because of SNS. Especially Japanese woman need the man who is high level. For example having good looking ,good to communicate and earn high salary, etc
That is not good, totally not good at all. The women themselves are also not perfect in anyway, why set such a high standard when looking for men... やばいんですね
when are the elders going to realize that their generation ruined many things which is why everything is so expensive. they call us selfish yet they’re the ones who messed up so many things for us and the future generations to come. us young people who do not want children, will continue to enjoy ourselves as much as we can and live our lives free of children. if you as an elder are accusing us of being selfish, need i remind you that us younger people are working with what your generation left us. - everything is expensive, rent is insanely high and is bound to go up at some point. - healthcare here is absolutely garbage (speaking as someone from the states) - clean water is running out - climate change is getting worse and worse and scientists have been warning us yet the govs. dont do anything about it. if they do, it’s not enough. - majority of people live paycheck to paycheck and can barely make it on their own, this is where a second job comes in just so you can have a roof above your head and food. who in their right mind would have a child?? - long work hours and not getting paid enough. children aren’t things you just pop out and drop off at a daycare. they need quality time with their parent(s). they are a person who’s going to grow up and at some point have their likes, dislikes, issues, personality, and opinions. children deserve to spend time with their parents. parents deserve to spend time with their child.
Ppl that don’t want children only make the population decline worse. And average age increasing is just as detrimental to society as all the other things you listed.
@@gamingsoup563 dude people want children but they can’t afford to have them. personally i wanted to have a kid but its way too expensive. so that’s out the window.
@@shinratensei5305 apparently you know me so well to determine i have problems, moving is also expensive and is easier said than done lol thanks for the suggestion i guess (like i haven’t thought of it before lmao)
It's a mixture of factors, of course. Global economical crisis, the messy environmental changes, the less overall socialization mixed with anxiety and high expectations, less time to dedicate to themselves and/or to family/friends because of strict/weird work schedules, the wars, the overall worse mental state of people, the controversial impact of social media (in particular in youngsters), the criminality, and the overall uncertainty of the fate of the world. And, on top of that, there are the people like me, who simply want to keep the most time possible for themselves in a world that literally steals it from your hands. And I'm lazy lol
Don't have kids when you don't take care of your mental health. Get to know you first. Heal your trauma. Rather having no kids than being an abusive, narcissistic etc parent. Kids getting traumatize from the egoistic parenting. A lot of parents should not have kids. We should also think for our future kids.
I remember when everybody and their dog didn't have supposed mental health problems, but now it's all anyone talks about. What a joke. Everyone is a pathetic wimp nowadays.
Remember the days when child rearing was a community activity? Me neither. But I believe in the concept. Financial support, emotional support everything involved in raising a child is something two individuals have to think about “can I do that on my own.” It shouldn’t be. Something as simple as ur parents taking care of ur children for a few days is a huge help. We always look to the government to make the way for certain things. And we should in many cases. But I think it’s also a community issue. I grew up in a close knit family and family friends who are more than prevalent in my life giving me opportunities my parents couldn’t give on their own. I couldn’t dream of raising a child without them or assistance from my community or my friends. Unfortunately not everyone has that environment. Sometimes to a nation level. 😕
> ur parents taking care of ur children for a few days is a huge help This is another side of the problem. People delay having kids until they've finished uni and got a good job but if their parents did the same they could find themselves stuck in the middle trying to look after both their kids and parents.
Interesting topic for sure! In Sweden it was normal until the 1900s for a women to have four or five children. After the 1900s the society developed very fast (Education, women's rights, more prosperity etc.) and it was down to two children per women. In Mexico it was seven children per women in the 70s. Today in Mexico, it is down to two children as well. In the future I think it will be the norm to have one or two children. The countries that still are lagging behind is in Africa. Women in these parts of the world are also getting more educated and enter the work force with ease nowadays. It is just a matter of time before they reach the levels of prosperity as developed countries has. The main thing today is that you always have the option to have children or not. If you want children, go for it. If you don't, then so be it. As long as you have the ability to choose your path in life of what you wanna do. There is no right or wrong in your decisions. Older generations did not have the luxury too choose as today's generations. I think though if they would have the possibility, they would have less children or none just as the generations of today.
This hit spot on. I'm American but my family is Mexican. My grandmother had 8 kids. And then there's 19 grand kids in total. The majority of us grand kids are above 30 and out of the 19 grand kids only 4 have 1 kid each. Such a shift!
It’s more complicated than that because the kids you have today will be the ones funding the retirement of your generation and take care of you when you’re old. In many western countries the senior boom is a huge problem, especially as people live longer. If you don’t have children it will have a great impact on how comfortable your last decades will be. I can speak from experience working in the medical field: unless they’re rich, childless old people are by far the most vulnerable. And this is a vicious circle because the older the population gets, the more taxed and pressured to produce are the younger generation which means even less opportunity to afford kids.
6:03 where the dude says he's the only child and doesn't want to end his family lineage. Me also being the only child, I always think with the powers I have, I should definitely end my part of the family lineage 😂😂
The dude saying that Japanese guys are too shy makes sense. A lot of guys aren't aggressive when it comes to making a move on the ladies, so a lot of them date foreigners who aren't shy about talking to the ladies.
There aren't any foreigners since the past few gov't has been anti foreigners. Canada is the same, girls literally begging to be approached and dudes are looking the other way, way more into video games and table games.
@@supahjadi8944 sorry, when I say aggressive I don’t mean harassing women. From what I know they don’t even approach women they like or are interested in to see if there’s mutual interest. The fear of not know how the lady will react is enough to prevent them from even trying. So yeah, when I say aggressive I don’t mean harassing. They expect the women to make the first move. Is that what women want these days?
For people in the middle class, giving birth to only a child and giving him/her a better education is rational in this highly competitive society. For people in the bottom class, staying single is rational rather than having children and struggling to survive the rest of their life. Before the internet era, people especially women who are more than 30 and staying single were regarded as complete losers so they struggled to get married and give birth to children, but nowadays being single in the 30s is normal. What the government should do is to change society to be more sustainable even in an aging society.
Having experience with both Japanese and Western cultures, I think in Japan the government really needs to step up efforts to reduce work hours, improve labor benefits such as paid sick days, additional mandated minimum vacation days, and also provide tax incentives for having children, assistance with day care and health care expenses, maternity and paternity leaves. On the other hand, Japanese companies need to be more cognizant and accommodating to women in the workforce by providing work and family life balance and financial security.
Same problem is happening in Canada. We can barely afford to live ourselves, let alone bringing another human life into the equation. It’s not that we don’t want kids(of course some don’t) but we can’t afford it. Either buy a home or have a child, although many won’t even be able to afford either.
That old lady reminded me of my father and many of his acquaintances, who admonish younger generation for focusing on their own personal goals and pleasing themselves rather than sacrificing themselves for the development of the country. I also live in a country where the birth rate has dramatically dropped, which is the result of a mix of problems, such as exorbitant housing prices, terrible workers' rights, work-life imbalance and gender inequality in workplace. And it sickens me that some people just turn a blind eye to those issues and blame young people for the phenomenon.
Life is about adding to the canon and achievements of your people and nation through toil and reproduction. Not pursuing "happiness" which to most people is a never ending dopamine trip. Countries that fall into the decadence you extoll wont last very long in the long run but I guess that doesnt concern you. You probably think you will never pass away either.
@@unatco6554 You really hit on something there with the dopamine rush thing. These younger folks clearly cannot differentiate between momentary bouts of euphoria and actual fulfillment, and the latter only comes from successfully shouldering responsibility and overcoming challenges. Sacrifice and adversity are prerequisites for achieving fulfillment, and given that younger folks avoid these things like the plague they have no hope whatsoever of achieving any semblance of contentment in life.
Most of the costs come from daycare and schools that cost a ton, provided you can even get your kid in for most of them. The way it is set up from what I know there is no clear cut solution but to get rid of all of it and do it all over, plus less scarcity to drive down price, but then workers will be too scarce since they are already, just adding a bunch of schools (mostly government funded so low pay) getting staff where they have to compete with commercial workers where there is way more money to be made. Then those apartments in bigger cities are notoriously small already, gotta have more space for those kids which means more rent. Just handing out cash means schools and daycare will just expect more pay from parents and family homes will want their slice of that cash too, driving up rent and house prices even more than normal creating the need for more handouts. Even if you do that, this channel and others plus official figures show more single people than ever, single people do not make babies, and if they do numbers from any country will show a single parent is less desirable. If you ask me, the root of the problem is a distorted work life balance. So I would start there. Give maximum working hours, straight up for everyone, say 68 hours, I have had that on cruise ships, contract for max 68 hours or else your work will suffer and you will be too fatigued (obviously exceptions can be military, firefighters when really needed, doctors, etc). Enforce a max 6 day working week, training for your work on behalf of your employer *must* be counted as work so no more fiddling there, France does that too. I once worked a hella illegal amount of hours for 6 months, 7 days a week and it wrecks you plus your relationship, I was single at the end of that even though I got paid. Moneywise: Russia has an incentive as a 1 time big payout, new parents spend it, and done. So don't. Some European countries have a system where parents for kids up to 12 or up to 18 receive an x amount every 3 or 6 months. Not a boatload, but it helps out. Another thing that is done in Russia is better mortgage, banks are made to give better conditions and lower interest for mortgages for young families. Gotta watch that it does not bankrupt Japan further though, their national debt already is skyhigh.
Suppose Japanese women were set up with work at home via internet at least partly sponsored by the government and employers. she could become pregnant, work at home til close to delivery time, have the baby, stay home and work remotely. the stigma of having a baby without a marriage is likely large in Japan. Such a program for married women could be possible. If the idea would become popular, Japan could eventually close the gap. add home schooling to the mix to eliminate the expense of child care outside the home
It's not just Japanese, other countries as well. I have one kid and I don't want anymore. He is so sweet and adorable, and also very time consuming. If I can't provide the best, I won't give birth. I choose to devote my time and attention to my child. People kept talking me into have a second child and I told them straight No No No. They finally take no after so many years. It's not their business, because they won't contribute any financial to my family. People can talk talk talk, when it comes to money, everyone runs away. Plus, if I have more children, we can't travel everywhere we want. Back then, I remember people get shamed for just being pregnant.
I had asked asked the same to my friend from Japan, she said , low birth rates is because of the financial problems faced while raising a child, so couples don't want to have children. Also south Korea fertility rate is 0.58 which is a deep concern for the nation . If I am not wrong Japan's fertility rate is around 1.3 or 1.4 ,not sure about it .
@@BrendanRaymondKoroKoro yes I completely agree with you, since our parents raised us ,it's our responsibility to take care of them in Old ages, people are thinking about the present, but are not farsighted enough to see what will be the consequences of these steps in future.
Well, we’re kind of doomed already so I don’t see a point to bring a child into this world just to live in this kind of environment. Besides having children is expensive and time consuming
It is trending. Not only Japan, but also China/South Korea/Taiwan... all east asian areas are experiencing similar issues. young generation people prefer career/personal life style to having children. many factors may contribute: culture, well educated population, wealthy society, etc ...
In USA too. Actually I thought about not having children early on but as I got older, I change my mind. Unfortunately, right now am not financially stable and my boyfriend is not either. We do plan to have a few kids one day. My friends who are a bit younger, already married, do not plan to have children right now either because they want to make more money. They also think raising even a pet like a dog is too much work. I don't think they are ready emotionally and mentally either.
I feel having or not having kids is an end result of questions that need to be asked starting with do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend and if not are you actively looking and if not...why not?
This was very interesting, I didn't know this was happening in Japan. The interviewees gave answers that were well rounded on the birth rate situation such as economic, individual, and social aspects. I agree with the economy aspect of it, you can't just increase one thing without increasing (or decreasing) the other. Very informative, Nice Job👍
I mean it isn't just Japan issue exclusive just that they are smarter about it for not having kids when the conditions don't favor the children. We live in times now that we get paid so little to work so many hours a long with the costs of living just being so expensive. Idk why governments make such a huge deal when it all happens because of how they are shaping the economical living and working conditions....
Its interesting that people aren’t worried about other similarly sized countries disappearing. Like Scandinavia. Because they have around 10% of Japan’s population with low birth rates. Humans don’t have to be locusts. Sustainably sized populations might even help the planet thrive in the long term, instead of the record setting heat and flooding Japan has been dealing with this summer (not to mention the fires and droughts in drier climates).
just refer to the parties rather than the countries, please. there is no culture outside of who is exchanging money directly (and then also indirectly) with each other.
@Swarmpope its 1,75 compared to 1,45 in Austria fe. Its definatly better. Of course not Mexico or India with 2,1 but for european standards in the better line. and now imagine Austria has a pretty high immigrant population too which mainly contributes to the birth rates!
All these comments gives me a lot of hope for japan's future tbh. I don't the world we'll be out of babies, Japan is no exception. But hearing people wanting to Japan to be global and have even less working hours is just a good sign they're actually willing to make a change from within. It's time to open up frontier and let more foreigners to live there with more easier policies.
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heres an alternate title - Do fallen angels playing pretend masquerading as wheat (aka tares) not want to have babies anymore? Comment section is literally just them btw.
Great video. California, U.S. is the same. It seems globally this generation have common understanding that there’s higher cost of living on top of corporations taking advantage of the working class. There’s also a liberation within women and young people changing the workforce and social norms. It’s weird to say where we are heading as humans continue to evolve.
Seriously, why do you still want more and more humans all the time ? We are billions, we already know that our current number is not even sustainable, why always more ? More of everything, more humans, more growth, more money, more power over everything. It has to stop. I don't say that we should go back to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, ditch all our technology or whatever. But just, stop asking more of everything just for the sake of having more, look at what you have, what you can do and what you NEED (as in necessary, not as in a child demanding the moon).
I don't think is just the Japanese. I had my daughter 3 years ago and everything is expensive, literally we're overpaying for every service that she needs, from kindergartene to doctors to diapers, everything is so expensive.
As a Filipina married to a Japanese guy, I raise a lot of alarm bells on the possibility of having a child, even just one in the country. Economy is on a downward spiral and cost of living os through the roof. Family pressure is not helping and older gnenerations from both sides do not understand how hard it is to live and money is a huge factor. Same in the Philippines. The only thing I'm hopeful in the Philippines is my parents gave me my own house and lot and we have small businesses going on but still I am quite not sure yet if I could raise my child in the Philippines. Plus the world is really not the best place to raise the new generation of humans even though part of me is a bit optimistic that with proper parenting, our kid would be raised as a decent human as much as we can but hmmm
The world really isn't the most healthy place right now to raise children. In this generation were good and bad information is easily accessible. However by taking the right measures it is possible.
Those who thinks like that just goes extinct. Children will born in tough times and will have to fight it out to create better Japan. No one will give you free candy. World only moves forward on hope. Have children quickly. Stop thinking about doom. Stop baseless anxiety. Have children quickly. Older Mennand women are infertile, have children at young age. Child can create his own best world. Don't worry. Japan is best place for rich people to have children. I think your husband is rich
For the same reason the US and Korea arent having kids: ITS TOO EXPENSIVE!!! The cost of living has skyrocketed in the past YEAR. Food is too expensive, Landlords are taking ALL of the affordable houses and charging rent higher than a mortgage with little to no restraint, jobs arent even paying minimum wage by federal standards as well as the workplace stress is burning us out faster than we can blink.
Well when your entire culture revolves around working and not making time for personal life or family why are you surprised when they don't want to have a family?
I remember something of not having a Japanese citizenship even if you marry a Japanese citizen. They still have this isolation going on in Japan. My friend worked in Japan for 10 years and married a beautiful Japanese woman and now they have kids. It's so sad despite for living and working in Japan for 10 years, He still not have his Japanese Citizenship. He pay taxes but the benefits are not the same as his wife. He had no choice but to live and go back in Canada with his family. Not having good benefits and not being a regular employee in Japan made him decide to leave the country, If it not had been for those circumstances he and his family could've lived in Japan
@@EvilKris It depends on the context. If you originally hold a very weak passport, then getting Japanese citizenship and renouncing your original would benefit you
@@BrendanRaymondKoroKoro No, you wouldn't have, or you would not be moaning on TH-cam. You would be living your simpler, more peaceful life and working your farm. Absolutely NOTHING in the modern globalised economy, with all its technology, prevents you from pursuing that if it really were your goal.
@@BrendanRaymondKoroKoro Really? Well, here in Spain some rural towns are so desperate for young people they will literally *pay* you to move in and start your farm. Look into it.
@@BrendanRaymondKoroKoro That's what I don't like about people they think everything in other countries are the same, they'd be surprised to know what many younger generations in U.S. are not having children due to the fact it's financially hard to scrape by despite it being one of the biggest economies in the world.
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It’s just expensive to have kids nowadays. Why take care of a kid when you can’t even take care of yourself? It’s that simple.
Edit: Thank you guys for 6.6k likes! I never had this much.
agree, its like rasing children who cant take care of themselves if the person cant do it at all in the first place and there would be no point in going it
Yeah, and it's not just financially, taking care of kids also have time, emotional and opportunity cost.
seems like Old lawmaker in Japan still thinks that family must have male breadwinner and female homemaker.
at the same time, they also want to increase workforce but do not want the burden of parenthood come into their industrial system.
Absolutely
You plan to have children, Not just bring Them into the world without a purpose of having a family, If not practice safe sex if you're not ready for Children
I agree. I keep hearing, you'll receive "Earned Income Credit"...I'm like "Ok". That earned income credit will not last me a year and this is while I have a job earning under $34K a year. Yes I can apply for more steady income, but so is everyone else. It's competitive.
It takes time and money to raise a child and people have less of both these days. If the government wishes to see more families, the environment needs to support it. Long work hours and less pay is not a recipe for children. In japan, people are shamed for taking too many days off for vacation. How can you take time off for a family?
When locals working for a foreign company in Japan, the staff usually refuse to go to teleconference (with overseas colleagues) at nighttime or weekends or during holiday/vacation. If they did, they would complain about it. I am quite surprised by it because I thought asians would take it in strides as part of the work culture in asia.
Is it because they are working for a foreign company (even when no foreign coworker in the Japan office) that they can show the true human nature instead of the usual Japanese behavior?
@@atamo4323 Kind of a ridiculous question, because no one (Japanese, American, etc.) should be expected to do what you just said. You kind of have to be an idiot to agree to that. While agreeing to do overtime without pay is quite dumb, this kind of goes to another level. It's probably just the new generation realizing that they don't have to do the stupid things the past generation did anymore.
The solution is to make it so beneficial to have children that people prefer it to a low-paying job. Also, daycare should not be the normal solution, it should be an emergency solution. We need to restore the respect for parents, who take care of their own children and raise them well.
Problem is also with the suffocating japanese society culture.
Rising feminism is main reason for declining birth rate, any average historian know that even during worst famine scarcity birth rate of most nation had not declined and now even when we all have almost everything, we all know why birth rate is declining. Feminist has brainwashed young girl that they should never get pregnant in any conditions and enjoy materialistic life, western nations are spreading feminism in most Asian nation because they know it's only way to destroy Asian human resource, they already destroyed Japan and korean society, India and China are next in Line
It's great seeing the juxtaposition between the old lady saying "young people just wanna do things that please them" vs actually hearing the young dudes talking about wanting lively families and not ending their lineage and also explaining incomes are stagnating so they can't.
Yeah I think a very similar exchange of ideas could happen in my country, Italy, where the population and the birth rate are decreasing aswell.. Older people just don't understand all the various reasons we young people have.. They just think we are spoiled and think only to ourself..
Economical stability is one of the reason also here in my country.. Another very important reason are prospective for the future, also related to climate change and all the stuffs happening in the world in these years.. I really would like to have a kid, but in which kind of world will he/she live? This is what concern me the most.. I'm actually very surprise this topic didn't show up in this interview
It feels like common notion around the world, where older people say "we just tightened our purses and persevered, young people just want to eat avocado sandwich", when reality is even if you are not having fun out in the streets, the money you would saved up are not enough to buy a house and carry the cost of raising a child, and nothing worse than get into debt and leave it up to your child to carry the debt when they grow up. There is a difference being able to afford pay monthly Netflix and being able to afford the cost of housing and children. So of course people go and have fun instead of moping all sad they can't afford to be homeowners, get married and have kids.
@@AndthenonedayIbecameanEXO-L This.
I wish everyone could understand this, is such a simple concept but most elders ignore it.
But actually also some young adults should understand it better, since I see some people at my age having more than one kid despite having not enough money to ensure them a comfortable life.
old people say that about young people while NOT adapting to a changing world to set them up for success. The old people just want life to stay in the past. Their politics are as if it's still the good old days. THEY are failing the young.
@@nenna95100 I agree with what you said, I would like to have children but first I would like to be married, but all if I'm married I will be afraid to bring a child into this world with climate change and with people pushing they're negative or wrong ideals on to Children these days.
The two gentlemen who spoke at the end nailed it perfectly. For women to want to have children, it's extremely important that the support system allows the women to return back to work easily after child birth. This would mean easily available child care centers, govt school from very early age, reduced working hours for men so that women won't feel they are alone in bringing up the kids, and more holidays per annum so that families can spend time together
if you want to raise the birth rate its better for women to not have to work in the first place, a working man should be able to provide for his family.
@@boygenius538_8 but we don't live in middle ages anymore?
@@elainev670 middle ages is only a time period it has nothing to do with men should work and women be at home
@@elainev670 if you are not living in the middle ages then you shouldn't allow Democracy because it's an ancient Greek political concept(not the today republic system only concept) which is adopted in modern era
@@boygenius538_8
Booooo
Women fought for being able to work and sustain themselves because otherwise men abuse them or their superiority over women.
When a man KNOWS his woman can't leave or do anything without him, he allows himself to cheat, abuse and do as he pleases.
Sorry but we don't want it and here we are, in an Era where birth rates fall and unless womanhood and motherhood are not treated as beneath men, it will continue.
Men need to step up and realize they can't tread us as their side characters, their sidekicks and those who are added to their lives as commodity. Just like you we want to live our life, pursue our goals, do things we like and not be your maids.
Are men dumb or something? You do realize we are human just like you?
A Japanese friend of mine almost never saw her dad while growing up. Dude went to work, when she woke up in the morning and came home when she was already in bed.
Imagine working so hard and then you don't get to see your kids grow up.
The Japanese work environment is famous around the world for being killer - why would people even think about having kids...?
Sad but true.
There culture is wayyy to work intensive they literally treat people like robots it's disturbing. If they want to have a future they'd better wake tf up.
It’s kind of like that in some American office environments too. Perhaps not quite to the extent of Japan… but I know there were plenty of days like that for me where I’d get up, shovel down breakfast, and be out the door before the kids were up- or just as they got up… and get home after dinner when they are getting ready for bed. Made me hate my career. The upside of Covidiocy was telework giving me a little more time with family.
Old joke we hear in India.
@@irisang2476 my exact thought....
Who has time for babies when you're overworked, financially stretched, and socially isolated in this ever-connected world?
So well said 👏🏻 🙌🏼 👌🏼
I don't see the lie
@@daiishi_kinyoubi Boulder Friday is right.
This!!!
Well said
If a country wants more children and a big workforce, then they need to find a balance to create a way to make that happen!
they open door to strabgers ...
It takes some time
@@Jsarmy87124 Bad idea.
Take germany as an example
They act like they don't know what the problem is but they know exactly what it is. They need to change they're attitude and policies towards work, but they don't want to change they're attitude and policies towards work. So, shouganai i guess. They say its about more women in the work place but thats nonsense scapegoat excuse. Plenty of women around the world have jobs and kids, it can work if they allow it . The Japanese need to change they're attitude towards work or they'll shouganai themselves into oblivion. Its as simple as that.
Great interview. Interesting how the younger adults understand the financial, physical and emotional struggle of raising children while the older ones simplify it as the younger generation being self-interested rather than being pragmatic. We aren’t selfish, we’re being realistic with the resources available. Plenty of people would be happy to have children, we aren’t happy to have children live through hardship, resource constraints, and lack of quality time with parents.
@Mr.Beant well said.
I wish Africans thought this way...no matter how bad things are ! No electricity, terrible education system, no water ,corrupt government, no Jobs ...Africans will have babies !!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate it so much
You drop this 👑
Guess how long it took the Japanese government to make such a good environment so that people want to have children
no. you are lying to other people and you are lying to yourself. I bet post WW2 Japaneese were in much harsher codfitions yet they had families and kids. but you are spoilt by the comfort of civilization and are too scsry to loose it. you want an easy comfortable life with little to no hardships.
It’s similar in many countries nowadays. Young people delay marriage, or avoid it altogether. Also, many young people don’t want to have children, and I don’t blame them. Japan is not alone in this trend.
@Brandon I'd say it's both. By which I mean many millennials and zoomers don't want kids, but even if they did, which some do, they wouldn't be able to afford them without stressing over money and where to live without lashing out at the kids. And yes, they would be massively in debt.
Yes, life is simply too expensive. College cost is crazy, buying a home is out of reach, cars are too high. The list is endless. All of this seems to be controlled by the ones in charge.
Here on my country teenage pregnancy still occurs
Yeah it's called "Why tf would I sign a contract where the other person is rewarded for screwing me over?"
The main issue is the housing market, which is artificially kept ultra expensive, sometimes by a few international corpos like Blackstone (probably is in your town, too). If you can't afford independence until your late 30s or early 40s no one will want to raise a child, and that's a rational choice.
My parents went from telling me and my sisters that babies will ruin our future/they'll throw us out throughout our teenage to college age years, to basically condemning us for not having kids now that we're near our 30s.
coz they realize your eggs are almost all gone in your 30s and that your old age is irreversible.
@@Waterbug1591 haha kids sux! I hope my eggs dry quicker so I don't have to take birth control anymore
@@hanalala3164 haha then you're reduced to a mere sperm bank from an incubator. 😂😂
Essentially useless to society at that point.
Bingo.
The trend of western culture treating teenage pregnancy as a negative things is a huge problem when giving birth as a teenager is physiologically the best option.
@@budthecyborg4575 it's the worst option teenage women have higher chances of getting nutrient deficiencies and anemia and higher chances of dropping off education
The older generation is out of touch with how much things cost nowadays. Circumstances are different from back then. Also many people don‘t just „take it and get on with it“ anymore. People are making informed decisions knowing that there are many options out there. Nothing wrong with that at all.
NOW imagine in 10-20 years from now you would lose probably 1/3 of your work force
HOW do you solve that when JAPAN is quite a isolist
Also I think the internet has A LOT to do with it. Over the internet, people have shared their toxic or traumatizing family stories. And when people find out how truly messed uo their family is, there is a fear that they may subject their own children to that toxicity even if it is unintentional. People feel alone, and don't want to give that to their children without good emotional security and financial.
There was some interesting research that showed that actually, all things considered, if you were to buy the same kinds of things and in the same amount as in the 70s, you’d be spending more or less the same percentage of your income. Yeah, education and housing got more expensive, but some things / experiences (think travel) have gotten cheaper. The problem is, people are lured into buying more: more stuff, more tech, more financial instruments, more insurance, more vacations overseas, etc. It’s more of a consumerist vortex supported and exploited by smarter, more targeted ways to advertise things that are driving this perceived feeling of not having enough money for anything. Worse yet, those things and experiences are now considered ‘normal’, so there’s enormous peer pressure to spend this way
@@jovpal5685 I mean the solution is in your question. Japan is quite isolated bc of xenophobia in government and the general population. The answer would be to incentivize immigration to keep fueling the working population.
@@actual_doge3221 that doesn't have to do with the internet lol
Some old people say that choosing not to have children is "selfish". What's really selfish is having children without thinking of whether you are emotionally mature and have a stable enough life to raise them properly. Also berating or guilt-tripping your own children to quickly make grandchildren is unquestionably selfish.
You know I've always wondered what exactly is selfish about it.
There is not one non selfish reason for having a child but at least 100 reasons why it is not selfish for not wanting one.
It won't hurt the hypothetical baby not being born.
The cognitive dissonance is strong with some of these people lol
Not wanting children is not being selfish. It's not like the hypothetical child will ever exist anyway so the point is moot
Time for Young ppl to grow the f up
Actively fighting AGAINST efforts to reduce CO2 emissions by reducing burning fossil fuels to reduce Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is SELFISH and EVIL. Eating and thus torturing animals by eating meat when so many plant based proteins exist is SELFISH and EVIL.
"Properly" humans raising children 2000 years before in extreme conditions is the reason why you exist.
I’m dying at the guy who blamed tv for people not having kids 😂
The older lady that was livid that younger people just seemed to be off enjoying themselves doesn’t seem to realise that the younger generations just don’t want to bring children into the world if they can’t give them everything they need. Younger people are being sensible by not having kids. Just because we can have them doesn’t mean we should.
the dude with the TV argument seems to also be laughing at himself for saying that right after, could be some sort of japanese comedy after all :D
She may have said this for children who can do it but "who want to live freely"
You just proved the old lady's point
@@ZK-ff2ru Old ladys point is a bit outdated
lasoob, you just showed why the elderly woman is correct - "if they can't give them everything they need". Maybe they don't NEED hardly anything you think they do.
Lol the dude who said the late night shows on Japanese TV are way too good. That made my day, not sure in which universe he's living in.
I wonder if he was feeling a little self-conscious about not having a partner and decided to give a silly answer, lol
Japanese never fails to entertain
He's chuckling afterwards
He does a little trolling.
@@MorwenAncalime haha but the late night TV shows in Japan are really wierd and random
The old lady is right, young people woke up from reality and realized they need to prioritize their own happiness!
Selfish generation
@@Nootlest Also life is getting more expensive to live on
@@Nootlest more like people can't afford to have children even if they want one. Everything is becoming too expensive.
@@elvinr6207 not only that, but because of that many people are more depressed, stress and unhappy in general. Why would you bring a child in this world if you yourself can’t even live a happy life
@@Nootlest L post
Love that this is being documented. Very uncommon to see an actual Japanese TH-camr taking to the streets vlogging, interviewing real issues and I’m loving it!
This issue is common to South Korea, China, and even western countries as well - as their societies became more educated and prosperous their people focused on careers and lifestyles instead of having children. The west "solved" this problem through immigration of new citizens but in East Asian societies, immigration is not generally acceptable for cultural reasons.
West has solved it through taking your engineers, programmers and doctors.
The rapid decline in the birth rates of South Korea and Japan can't be fully explained as a natural consequence of industrialization.
@@jalfredprufrock620 Even in the west the people that tend to have many kids are religious. Christians, Muslims and Jews. The majority of Japan is shito or Buddist. Neither of these religions promote babies.
meanwhile, population in poor countries continue to rise and people blame the government for lack of jobs.
The West didn't solve anything. They just put a ban-aid on the problem
The greed of most world class business people and politicians has made people around the world cannot afford to have children.
You got it wrong and even if you were right, who elected these puppets? we did. Time and time again.
Absolutely Agree and they are destroying the planet
Well apparently people in the poorest continent Africa can but not people in the wealthy regions like Europe, North America and East Asia
@@thomasgrabkowski8283 Families of wealthy countries could have many kids but they'd find themselves economically broke. As soon as poor countries become wealthy they will experience the same.
Isn't it beautiful
World without people to suffering?
Well in the past it was 10 times easier to earn family wage and to support a family with just one income. Now that is literally impossible.
not just that, womens dont want to get married anymore, marriage sucks. More womens wants to be single mom's.
happens here in Indonesia,, and maybe all around the world right now.
@@evelynng3521 I wouldnt agree. A lot of women want marriage. The problem is that women just as men are pickier than ever, so people tend to feel like they are settling unless someone is perfect. So this just makes things even shittier.
This is true in every industrialized country. But, I believe the main problem is that adult children no longer live with their parents, but rather they move out as soon as feasible, and follow their career to whatever random city. If you live with your parents, or even next door or in the same neighborhood at least, your parents become automatic childcare providers and you can be more free to work, go to school, go out at night etc.
@@naughtiousmaximus7853 yeah they want someone who is worth the time and effort. if someone gets their ideal partner then having a family will be easier as both of them want the same thing.
For most of human history, people didn't really plan children; they just had them. I'm always dumbfounded when people who didn't choose to have kids ask why young people aren't choosing to have kids. Given the chance, I'm sure many of us would not have been born had our parents had the information we had about the true cost of childrearing and had the science to have sex without pregnancy.
This is so true. I was planned but im the younger sibling. My mom is the oldest sibling and she wasnt planned and my grandparents had her fresh out of high school.
So for thousands of years, nobody figured out that sex leads to pregnancy? Is that what you're saying? How come fertility rates didn't drop gradually instead of suddenly? Why didn't they coincide with "information about the true cost of childrearing"? Why are poor africans having so many kids? You clearly don't understand why fertility rates drop or rise
People of this generation are more sensible than previous generations. They know it is better to not have children when they can't take care of themselves
Exactly
True
actually this generation have more fun/distraction lifestyle.... that why old generation matured much faster in their young age... this generation even you 30 years im sure mostly not mature yet.... that why they cant take care of themselves...
@@becksketchbook9846 truth
nobody will take care of them when they are older, it's not like they are maintaining , savagely decreasing rapidly, very sensible
Everyone says it is a financial issue but what I observe is people's changing view on what having a child means to them. People around me with many children view them as a blessing, even if they can barely provide for them, while those without view them as a burden and yet another major responsibility.
Correct.
The different views is also why religious people tend to have more children than atheists because religious people tend to view having children as a blessing from god, while atheists are more likely to view it as just another burden out of many things
Great point!
it is both a burden and a crime, to have kids.
Rising feminism is main reason for declining birth rate, any average historian know that even during worst famine scarcity birth rate of most nation had not declined and now even when we all have almost everything, we all know why birth rate is declining. Feminist has brainwashed young girl that they should never get pregnant in any conditions and enjoy materialistic life, western nations are spreading feminism in most Asian nation because they know it's only way to destroy Asian human resource, they already destroyed Japan and korean society, India and China are next in Line
I wish my parents thought more like this before having me. They didn't have financial stability so I grew up hardly eating and living in poverty. I asked them why they had me and they said, "is it wrong for me to want my own child?"
Wow that’s selfish! Hope your life is in a better place now.
1 child and not financially stable yet? Just 1? That’s good judgement as they knew more than 1 would be very difficult.
Consider decisions made by thousands in the US that have 3,4,5 or 6. They live in inner cities and are single parent households. Also many that come across our borders start families immediately. Again 2,3,4,5,6 kids with little financial stability.
As compared to the US, those Japanese parents that had just 1 kid are quite responsible
Most ppl are just selfish lmao
@@s.taylor2545 in my country they see their children as an investment if they get old their children will take care of them or the reason to get them out of poverty.
@panko hug
This problem isn't just prevalent in Japan and South Korea. I'm a woman from Germany and in my mid-twenties. I have a long-term partner and we want to move in together soon, at this moment I live by myself. I really, really want a child or two, however: I leave for work at 8:30am and come back 8:30pm, I have to work 40 hours a week just to sustain myself. After work, my whole body hurts so bad that it's a struggle just to cook and take my nightly showers after work. This month I had to pay some extra bills and I'm left with less than 100€ for groceries even though I already lead a very frugal lifestyle and live in a small apartment. Even with me and my boyfriend moving in together and getting support from the government (~200€ a month/child), we still wouldn't be able to afford it because a bigger apartment would take up most of our income. I'm not the only one in this situation, in fact, most of my friends face similar problems. How tf am I supposed to support a child like this? The government is complaining about the decline in birth rates, but instead of addressing the root cause of this issue, they want more foreign people to come here for work (even if it isn't sure that they'll learn the language and stop relying on government money after settling in). At this point it feels like a huge joke and honestly I'm very angry. I'm sorry that Japan's youth is facing the exact same problem. This is a recipe for disaster, and it's going to wreck this world.
The rich assholes could care less and just complain because it looks good
Meanwhile some corrupt German politician would be a baby making machine like Musk.
What good world we live in
Same here in Portugal, housing and amenities sky high, I’m only 18 but I don’t know if I want children solely because I’d probably not be able to give them the comfort and lifestyle they deserve. :(
As an American its quite tragic to see what America has done to Germany and Japan. These two countries were great before we touched them. Now much like us, they are corporate shells with no soul. The people all have to work to death to just sustain themselves and it gets worse every decade. These governments don't care about us, in Germany they are purposefully replacing Germans with foreign invaders.
Before these countries adopted the American economic system their birth rates were way above 2.0+ and could actually raise families.
I don't care what anyone says but we should not have intervened in WWII because everything from that point has lead up to this ugly world we live in. People will be quick to bring up mass death but have no issue when Soviets had been killing tens of millions on a much worse scale than Japan or Germany. Or the Chinese who killed millions of their own. Yet we sided with these Satan worshippers. Soviets were doing this for fun during peacetime while the Axis did this only in war time, where massacres etc have been normal since the dawn of time.
Many American WW2 veterans regret what they caused. We all thought we were doing the right thing.
History always has proven that Japan and Germany have always been highly adaptable and quick to change. I believe in you all!
Sad ain't it! All people in governments pretend and don't care becos they earn big salaries, have good lives where everything is paid for from people's taxes! All they know is spewing verbal diarrhoea!
That transition on 2:45 is perfect. No hate for that old lady, but her words how young people do nothing but selfishly have fun, and then cut to these 3 young guys talking all serious about economical instability and how people can't provide safe raising conditions for potential children... It's not that people became selfish. People are people no matter what era we live in. What changes is our realities, world around. And world around right now is very, very unstable and unfair for people rising into adulthood.
why do you think Japan has had such economic growth since the world war, but has such a low birth rate, even less than the world wars & economic collapse? maybe they just have a higher standard of life which isn't sustainable in terms of longevity.
@@roxas4587 they do have a higher standard of life... but other countries do, too. for example - the USA - and yet the USA doesn't have nearly the same issue as Japan in terms of births. However, the USA has their own problem of a standard of living that is unsustainable for the environment and the economy.
@@PandaPanda-lm7vx USA standard of living is much much lower than Japan's believe it or not. maybe countries like Finland could be an example. but not USA.
US is not even close to Finland in living standards
We haw here heating, clean drinkable running water, internet, schools, etc everywhere even in most backwater town in lapland.
Gap is huge US is 3rd world country but whit nukes
I haw been living both countries i was shocked how evolved they are
@@el3ndir97 USA, by definition, is not a third world country. That statement in itself is false. Whether you’d like to argue the state of civil rights or politics is another issue, or the state of affairs concerning quality of life, but saying the US is a third world country simply isn’t true.
There's three points that need to be addressed in order for Japanese people to be able to build families:
1) Better life-work balance. (Reduce work hours and put a ban on coerced overtime.)
2) Decrease the cost of living and taxes, and increase salaries.
3) Implement various programs to disincentivize solitary activities and encourage group activities.
Nah this wont result in it. More liberal working hours and cost of living wont change anything. its a cultural issue rather than a socio economic one. i think the reason japan wants remilitarization is that the government knows that japan is lacking a sense of nationalism. you must also remember japan has a large portion of its population being athiest/agnostic so most of its economic and social development comes from long and massive projects that embrace nationalism/facism. this is the way the world is heading... sad but true... we need a reason to live, a reason to reproduce, a reason to love our country; even if it is all delusion and tribalism...
4) allow women to come back to the workforce and don't expect them to be SAHM.
I agree, but this won’t fix the major issue. People’s mentality. A wide reaching propaganda campaign is needed to shift the next generation’s mindset towards a family oriented conservative mindset. Not an ideal solution, but this is the major issue.
@@fulty6305 yeah this is the major issue.
With debt to GDP ratio...japan must work hard. Their population is the one who carry the burden of debt. So, first they need to restructurize their debt to GDP ratio.
having children for the sole purpose of standing to benefit FROM THEM IN THE FUTURE is so toxic. i was born precisely because my mom wanted financial security in her late years. since the age of 4 i wondered why i was alive and never felt loved the way it should be. everything i was made to do was so i could be successful in the future-- but not for myself; so i could have money to give her.
do not do this to your kids.
I don't think it's toxic it probably depends on your mindset and parents. I'm from a family of seven and we are Five girls with no boy except my dad of course. My Mom and Dad Loves us...yes they may yell at us beat us sometimes ( Especially if we f*cked up pretty badly. I'm African and it is not a crime to beat your children so don't start talking to me about "child abuse") My Dad came from a very poor family that had Eight kids, My grandparents worked so hard to train them, My dad was a very intelligent individual and always topped the class. He didn't know if he will be able to go to university but still prepared a lot for the National Exams And got a record breaking result in the entire state! Long story short he got a scholarship to the premiere University of my country and is a well know Pharmacist,Business Consultant and Salesperson.
Out of all Eight children my dad was the only one that turned out great. He now takes care of our Diabetic 86 year old grandma by buying her
those very expensive medicine to
treat her condition and sending her spending money from time to time.
If not for my dad she would have died long ago. Because the rest of her so called children couldn't even care less.
Anyway I'm saying this story to tell you that your parents don't mean any
harm by wanting you to be Economically strong and successful.
Even if they are being greedy you still have to help them. After all it doesn't change the fact they went through blood,sweat and tears to raise you. It is after all your OBLIGATION!🙂
@@bunnyx2819 you are wrong. It's never a children's obligation to do whatever their parents want just cus their parents raise them up. By that logic, i can raise a kid and then whack them with a rod till they die cus I took care of them. I dont care, just because it's not considered a crime to beat your children in your country doesn't mean it is not CHILD ABUSE. You can try to sugarcoat however you want but it is what it is. And child abuse is a crime in so many countries even in Asian countries.
@@bunnyx2819 the oc comment is actually relatable, ik parents who treat their kids like future investments. Wanting ur kid to succeed vs. wanting to milk money out of them are two different things. There are bad kids, but there are also lots of bad parents and generational trauma. Also, if you think beating up kids is not child abuse then idk what is haha, that's literally the meaning of child abuse but if that's love for you then I won't judge.
*T H I S*
@@bunnyx2819 the point of my post was precisely because of the so-called OBLIGATION you highlighted. i want to be filial because i should be raised right that way and out of love for my parents, not because they made me with my only purpose in life being to serve my parents needs.
Japan is going to be just fine. The thoughtful responses by the people interviewed are indicative of people who are considerate of what kind of future they can give their kids. If EVERYONE thought like this, we would have a much better world. I would be more worried about countries where people have a bunch of kids and don't care for them, abandon them, mistreat them, and then expect someone else to clean up their mess. Japan does not have that problem. They cherish their elderly AND young people, enough to seriously consider the kind of life they can be able to give them BEFORE creating them. It's a healthy mentality. Kudos, Japan.
A supporter of human race eradication.
Idealistic but myopic. "everything will be fine". if Japan's working class literally disappears you will have a geriatric nation -- and no one to "cherish" them
Japan is iconic bc of their insulated -- so strong -- culture.. the purveyors of Japanese culture, new ideas, *always* have been youth. Look at QoL data for unpaired men and women... there is no future for Japan [or anyone else] if a population bust happens
"...if Japan's working class literally disappears..."
Please illustrate how this will happen within the next 50 or even 100 years, with math and data links. Thanks. I am looking forward to your in-depth analysis. @@Retrofire-47
@@Panamenya it won't disappear... it will just be derelict -- and unable to [financially] support the aging population. so not *literally*, my bad
idk. i'm not so sure this even matters. Automation is here and a post-scarcity society means crooked population pyramids mean little: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/06/Population_Pyramids_of_Japan_%28Projections_2065%2CIPSS%29.svg/2560px-Population_Pyramids_of_Japan_%28Projections_2065%2CIPSS%29.svg.png
" ...if Japan's working class literally disappears"
Spoiler alert: That absurd hypothetical scenario you just cooked up will never happen, so your point is moot. @@Retrofire-47
Before having a child one should be financially stable, mentally and emotionally prepared. If you can't take care of yourself then it's not yet the time to have a child. I salute those people who think about what future they can give a child before having one. I mean the world today is very stressing what if your child ask you one day why you gave birth to him/her if you can't support them morally, financially and emotionally? what answer can you give?
nnehx, Please read a history book.
I wish my parents think like u before giving birth😭😭😭they only thought abt if they could support me financially. All they do after coming home from work is have their eyes glued to the computer for another few hours. Though I grow up enjoying a material life, I can barely hear my parents laugh throughout my whole life. I can’t describe how depressing it is to have no one talks with me and attends to my emotionall well being. Growing up in this dysfunctional family, not only do I find myself having difficulties in communication but also end up spending their hard earned money on therapy sessions and antidepressants…
@@merry6oround144 i can feel you
With the way of thinking, human being is gonna die
Welcome to antinatalism
you see men are more obsessed with carrying on their lineage. have u ever heard a woman saying that? why? simply because their last names will be passed down and they feel a sense of accomplishment knowing their golden dna has created a new life?
as a woman in my mid 20s im not ready to give up my freedom and happiness and have my life revolve around a crying baby that needs me to feed it every 3-4 hours. cracked bleeding nipples, lack of sleep, no break away from the baby. your life will be changed forever. when the baby becomes a toddler guess who has to bring the child to kindergarten and swimming classes and art classes. i dont want to destroy my body with pregnancy and have lifelong pain when i already cannot handle period pains every month...
men talk about having children like its easy because who gives up a career to be the full time caregiver? who has to be around the crying child 24/7? its still traditionally expected that moms should stay at home to take care of the baby. if the parents hire a nanny and the wife goes on to work, people look at them and say, wow what a bad mom, not taking care of her own child.
@@s.taylor2545 all the best and i hope you find a partner that wants to be childfree ❤️
why is it all about you you you you you you? The world doesn't revolve around you that's for sure. Keep having your 20s fun until you hit your 30s and end up being a leftover woman with 90% of your eggs gone you'll regret about your life choices now only caring about your fun.
@@Waterbug1591 lol keep projecting. Why does it bother you what this person wants to do with their life? Also, 'leftover woman'? Are you an idiot? People can have fulfilling lives without having children, it depends on what kind of person you are.
@@Waterbug1591 Give me the reason why
@@visibleuser6895 why what?
What’s weird is that many countries are moving toward this kind of situation if they already aren’t in one. Everything gets more expensive but power to purchase does not rise enough to match it. People can’t afford to buy a house or have children but they have enough to let themselves have fun and enjoy the present.
Preach.
Post-scarcity is coming...
ppl in the vid are talkin' bout "labor". The age of automation is here - no more labor [soon]. Then no more resource scarcity, money is passé. Maybe u get credits. arguably this "population bust" is an omen of change. research population demographics and no one really knows what happens after the post-industrial phase
The dude that blamed TV 🤣🤣🤣💀💀💀 and his friend awkwardly nodding but probably thinking wtf hahAaaaaa
Lol Ikr it is true though.
Older gens: “don’t have kids if you can’t afford them!” Younger gens: “ok. We won’t.” Older gens: *throw tantrum
Dude, this problem is not only showing in Japan, it's a global thing, just that Japan is feeling it more now. This generation don't want kids they can't provide for, i for one won't even think of kids if I'm not financially stable. I'll be so heartbroken if my kid comes to me saying they want to take ballet class and I'm like " i can't afford it so watch TH-cam videos". Thinking of that short dialogue even breaks my heart.
@visitor _t there needs to be a balance though. Not having 5+ kids and opting for 2-4 is better considering the odds are high they’ll all make it to adulthood. However people are more and more having 2 or less kids, which is at or below replacement level, for a multitude of reasons. Eventually, we’re gonna run into a situation where a majority of the population is too old to work/work efficiently and there aren’t enough younger people to sustain them. It’ll lead to the economy being even worse than it already is, if not a total collapse.
They feel more because they are more well educated, considerate and responsible. Whereas America teen for example, pop a baby out on a daily basic to a point that they create laws to prevent abortion.
Im not specifically attack America, just happen to be the most popular country.
The problem is that the world is overpopulate. Not enough resources to let everyone live a good life, so we have to compete against each other very badly
@@CS-et4fsUS birth rates are down right now too actually, due to the same issues of wage stagnation vs the cost of living, and the abortion bans are because of the rise in ultra-conservative religious policymakers following Trump, not because of "teens popping out babies every day". Teen birth rates have been declining in the US since 1991 and reached historic lows in 2022 actually. The far-right is destroying the US in many different ways currently, and overturning our right to reproductive healthcare is just one small part of it.
@Random17Game Stop talking about people CHOOSING to breed and force death and hardship and suffering onto their children as though it is ANYONE's or ANYTHING's responsibility BUT THEIR OWN. Culture nationalism are NO excuse. PHYSICAL CONSEQUENCES are deterministic. What people CHOOSE to do - POLITICS -- is NOT.
[controversial take] maybe the old philosophy of giving ur child all these fancy gifts/services is now being outmoded? arguably throughout human history the father would teach the son skills, or the son would be self-taught through experience.
Why do you need a ballot class? get her some tap shoes and teach her yourself?? rhetorical
The opinion from the younger generation is universal. How can you work on settling down and raising a family of your own if you have hard time taking care of your personal issues plus environment and fast-paced trends. Raising a family involves time, money, and dedication. Know what to prioritize. Do not listen to Musk, that dude is a babymaker. Not all financially successful personalities have a happy life.
@Jase oh my, talking about irresponsible, selfish parents that drag their own children into their own misery and turning these children into their safety net and emotional punching bag, this hits home for me
Elon musk is a nutcase. What does he know when he comes from a rich family and able to afford an army of nannies to look after his kids. Seeing how one of his children wanting to cut ties with him just proves how shitty of a parent he is.
@@mndsph4530 It hits home for many MANY people over the internet who have learned that that is not the normal thing to expect. When they find out their family is messed up they dont want to make children, it is the very last thing they want.
Elon is a mogul with shitloads of cash and thinks is his job to populate earth. The man is smart only when it comes to making money nothing more. Stop listening to him
Didn't one of Musk's kids literally disown him? Like, genuinely stops considering him as a father? I mean if he wants to be a baby factory then go for it - but it's clear that he's not exactly a good dad and his opinions should not be taken as a rule.
Like, say what you want about Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates - their kids seem to have a good relationship with their parents.
This is a topic that relates to the vast majority of the world. One of the main issues is the cost-of-living vs personal income. The cost-of-living is vastly outperforming people's wages. It's far too complicated to start a family in an environment where wages are stagnate (or with little growth) relative to the always increasing price of basic necessities. Furthering the complications are climate change, horrendous education systems, work-life balance and the general state of the world as a whole.
I think this is a problem that most advanced nations will / already face but Japan and Korea are in the forefront. People's priorities are shifting and some are actively choosing not to have kids because they want to live their own life. Besides personal choice, it's just simply too expensive to have kids. Whilst government policies can definitely help support people wanting to have babies, there needs to be a huge societal shift as well - e.g. mum's should not be the sole carer, and companies need to let people take parental leave without pressure / impact to career progression.
South Korea latest is 5.7 it's not 0.8 no more.
That is true what you're saying.
It's not too expensive to have kids. Parents expectations of what they want is too high. Look at history when poor people had many children.
@@cocaineminor4420 what's 5.7 and 0.8?
@@earlysda It is expensive. Housing is expensive in certain areas. If you can't afford rent then you live on the streets. In poor countries you are allowed to build any sort of housing that you can. You can't do that in a lot of other countries so you have to pay rent or you live on the streets.
Both genders work long hours, no time nor energy nor financial means to get married and make babies. The rampant reliance on social media isn't helping either. Not sure if the old lady's comment is true - that young people just think for themselves. I think that's probably the symptom, not the cause. They need to let out the unprecedented stress.
"..that's probably the symptom, not the cause."
Spot on. Can't expect people to start families when they can barely support themselves.
You and your Koreanbos should read the world birth rate data 2021
Japan's birth rate is higher than Spain and Italy.
The old lady is playing a dangerous game by judging the people who are paying for her old age social benefits. If all the young people decided to leave the country, there will be no one to pay into the social safety net.
@@MrAnonymousRandom And I suspect you have a habit of judging older people as well. Indeed, the only "ism" that is acceptable, and even encouraged, nowadays, is ageism, with countless people on social media rooting for boomers and older folks to die on a daily basis. I suspect this know-it-all, prideful spitefulness will bite younger folks in the ass in the end, and I wish them nothing but abject misery and suffering for their hatred of older generations.
@@hnlpharmd u sound really salty when all he said was about the old lady and not older ppl in general
Work culture in japan NEEDS to change, I know the government has stepped in to force people to take vacation but they need to do more.
They really need to force companies to stop over working people to death. They need to limit workhours to 50-60 hours a week and also step in help couples afford housing! The salary and housing cost is bad in Japan.
If only Japan will drop the Bushido mindeset I dont think that is going to happen.
Lol, they should reduce it to 40 a week. Every extra working hour should be compensated by extra payment or by extra free time.
@what I don't think korea is dropping their senority system any time soon
@what what happened with this pilot story ?
And then how do you support the older Population? They want us to do the same stuff in Germany. The older generation didnt have enough children and now the goverment is advocating the smaller Younger Population needs to Work more to Support the older generation
In the olden days in Japan, marriage was the key to becoming a full-fledged member of society, and children were a must. Today, however, social values have changed dramatically, and Japan has become a society where diverse lifestyles are respected. As a result, I feel that the number of single people is increasing. Another factor is the trend toward late marriages, which has led to an increase in the number of couples who do not have children even if they do get married.
Women are lied to all over the world about their ability to have children later in life. But women aren't fertile forever.
People say birth rate like they’re not considering that it’s actually women who have to suffer a great deal to carry, birth and breast feed babies - is it possible that women would like to focus on themselves alone and enjoy the one life they get without baby anchors tied around them.
@@s.taylor2545 always the men who think a women sole's purpose is to bear a child for them. Good thing I decided to stay childfree
your ancestors werent selfish women who thought about happy hour and new shoes instead of creating families and taking care of them. You will enjoy it until your mid 30s (if you arent there already) and then start coping as you will likely have to depend on cats and boxed wine to keep you sane. Then when you get old who will look after you? All important questions to ask yourself. You wont be a young woman forever.
@@unatco6554 so your idea of having kids is just so you have someone taking care of you? Even more selfish
@@unatco6554 Terrible reasoning for having children. And not even a true issue anymore. Younger generations usually tend to take better care of themselves through healthy diets, exercise and a more active life altogether. We will age slower and better than our parents and grandparents. Of course there are diseases and other unexpected factors that could affect mobility and lucidity, but even for those who have children it's not a guarantee that they will take care of you. Take good care of yourself, invest your money wisely and hope for the best. There will also be plenty of older childless friends to support each other. I will not make children expecting them to be nurses and caretakers, that's preposterous.
@@s.taylor2545 LOL yeah. Men and older people always have the surprised Pikachu face whenever a woman says she doesn't want children. I am not against having kids but I will not raise them in lowkey shitty conditions like I was just for the sake of it. Whenever I have kids, I want to provide them with the very best I can. And I'm finishing Medical school first. Like, no question 😂
Money and stable jobs are just two of the major problems in decreased births. This problem is not exclusive to Japan. The U.S., S. Korea and others face the same problem.
I'm always amazed by elders who accuse us of being selfish when their greed has ruined the environment and the economy for future generations, the most astoundingly selfish act of all.
Edit: by greed I mean elders have overwhelmingly voted for policies that conserve their generation's wealth at the cost of educational and environmental policies such as renewable energy, housing, immigration and wealth redistribution that benefit future generations. Japan in particular has a HUGE problem with this; politicians ignore the progressive youth to appease the conservative, rapidly ageing population that keeps them in power. The world they have prepared for us sucks.
Do you mean greed in deciding to have children? Bc what makes elders greedy?
Huh? I thought the youngsters are the consumerist
You know almost all the infrastructure and technology we have is because of them, you can't blame any generation, they did the best they could.
People tend to become politically conservative as they age (grow in wisdom). Many struggled to provide when their children were young, but hard physical labor was the norm. The younger generation is culturally separated from the land, and lacks basic living skills people had to have to survive 50 years ago.
Your idea of “wealth redistribution” and blaming the “older generation” for “ruining the earth” shows you lack insight. There are just a few very wealthy families who own most of the corporations today. THEY are the ones bribing our politicians, polluting, and hoarding resources. Wake up.
G J sounds bitter that the elderly lady was correct in her analysis of the younger generation.
My SO and I are happily childfree. We've been together for 17 years. Greetings from Italy!
It's the same issue in Korea and China, where women are expected to be the main caregiver. So imagine both boys and girls going through the same education system and putting in decade of hard work to gain all the knowledge and aspiration. Then when it comes to creating a family, women face voices telling them their options are either be a worker and a main caregiver, or let go entirely their decade(s) of hard work to be a SAHP (if they WANT to be one, good for them). They also end up losing financial independence etc. Childcare options are also scarce. Nothing is fair in life, but upon hearing that unfair future, not everyone will be willing to jump onboard.
My country is poor but a lot of young people are having children and that is causing my country to be overpopulated and it's also causing my country to have brain drain and woman are not staying home and taking care of the children they are working same as the father taking care of the children. That is the main problem people want the mothers to stay home only and take care of the children they want them to give up their careers and people will not or do not want to do that.
These so-called countries are defined as "developed countries", but I think the developed country should be called a developed country both economically and socially. It is absurd to call a country where women are still in the second place developed
With today's living costs, only the very wealthy can afford single parent income. Even if women want to be SAHM, they might be able to do that financially.
Yes, 100% agree. Even in the US, this is an issue. With more female college grads and yet they're also expected to be the main caregiver.
@@rockyshocks101 women are expected to be the caregivers because it is biological. We are mammals and in 99 percent of the mammalian species the male is the hunter and the female is the caregiver. People hate it but it's the truth.
From rising food prices and living expenses to a worsening climate and more droughts occurring throughout the world, who in their right mind would want to bring more children into this world?
I think not having any kids can be detrimental to you. Humans thrive on long term goals, if you have nothing to pursue life will become boring. And boredom can lead to substance abuse and a whole range of nasty things. But if you have a really big goal set out for you, then I guess that can give fulfillment as well.
Yes, that's a concern
@@koenvanwijk2605 using kids for motivation, for a purpose in life, or to avoid life being detrimental to you is ethically dubious. The less children the better the quality of life for those children (earth's resources are finite), and the slower climate change will happen etc
@@g_c6668 Not saying it is the reason to have kids. But having kids will give you and those around you purpose, to deny that is just bad faith.
What are you doing about climate change to have a positive impact? Aside from telling people to stop having kids.
@@koenvanwijk2605 There's not much I can do about climate change, I don't have the solution to turn it around. I am not having kids to suffer the consequences of climate change though. I love my potential kids too much to do that.
"The young people today , all they do is have fun" I think it's just that many became educated and we think of what future we can give the child. I mean there is no perfect parents but the youths nowadays are aware of what is happening, the social problems that the Government does not even give a solution, especially here in my country.
Those parents who give birth to children without considering their ability to provide a better life for them, are "having fun", literally, ln their beds. Birth control needs self control, while cream pieing does not.
The old lady is out of touch with the current situation the youths are facing.
No in fact its because japanese until about like the age of 18-19, they live in a environment thats not realistic. Schools dont allow any kind of self expression or whatever. You would think 19 is an age of adult, but thats really not the case here.
"I *think* it's just that many became educated"
The problem here is, you're using your opinion to claim about something that you don't have evidence to. Many became educated? Every kids goes to school, there's no such thing as "many/less are educated". What would make sense is the LEVEL of education one goes through or how much they are able to understand certain things in life.
in what you invest your time is what you have
I do understand a lot of the things they are saying, I have 6 kids myself. A natural son, stepson, and four adopted girls. It was quite hard not having very much support from my own adopted family, I had to relay on friends to help me. Everything being so expensive and even with people for babysitting is so scary even back then, it was quite hard to find someone that can fit your schedule when it comes to work. 5/6 of my kids are all grown up and have kids for themselves, but it's very difficult to expect to do a lot and got told something else that makes it hard to be confident of being a parent. I did it as a single parent for a long time, and I keep on getting told that "You shouldn't be a mom because you dont have a partner to help you..." which made me think I needed one, and which was the worst discussion ever! I love my stepson but not his father, and it made me sad that I had to give up everything because he and 98% of my adopted family told to "give up and have kids with ONE guy...." the influence of other people makes a HUGE part of "Should I raise a kid or not?" That type of question ALWAYS pops up because there isnt a supportive network for money, environmental, and also support groups for parents or even single parents out there. We get slapped with "Single parents cant do it because it's not suitable for the child's health..." But some have that strength to do it for their kid or kids, parenthood is never easy but its rewarding.
Perhaps Elon Musk should tell his CEO friends to start paying people more and stop working them to death here and in Japan. It's the economics.
Then how will he go Mars?
@@destro5451 😅😅😅😅😅😅
Perhaps he could start with his own company
It is not so simple. There is a problem called inflation and mismatch. I remember that Nike wanted to increase the salary of its foreign workers and the governments of those countries sent them letters so that it would not be like that, "a worker cannot earn more than a doctor, that will generate a labor imbalance", and it is true. Because if they slowed down the pace of work, they would lose competitiveness in globalization. It's a pretty complicated problem tbh.
@@phantomplex do you have a source?
As a person with kids, what the guy in 3:25 is saying, is absolutely correct. Better quality than quantity. We don't want the next generation to be like "the bubbles in the sea", so many yet so easily washed away.
And be popped And be forgotten on the Data Books
I am a Korean woman. My opinion on this issue is that if you get married and have a child, both men and women have a harder life. You should spend a lot of your time and money on your child. And in Korea, when raising a child, you have to raise it in many competitions. In addition, if I raise a child, the pressure to raise it really well makes me think that I am not qualified to have a child. In the media, a rich couple comes out and raises their children in luxury, and I think that's a bad influence on Korea's fertility rate. I compare myself to others and think about whether I deserve to have a child or if I can make the child happy.
In the past, men worked for money and women worked at home and raised children. But these days, most women work in society, too. In Europe, even if men and women work together, childcare welfare is very good, so it does not adversely affect the fertility rate. And Europe has less competition for child education than East Asia. The government should create a society and welfare where people will not worry about having children
Move to the US if you want a easy life many young people here are allergic. There always room for more.
Thank you for being so open about this.
I agree with you, but here in Europe there's also a very bad fertility rate because housing is ultra expensive and wages are low.
유럽에 안살아봐서 모르는거 같은데 출산률 하락은 유럽 미국 포함 모든 나라들의 골칫거리입니다
@@tammy2234 프랑스 같은 나라는 출산율이 한국의 두배더라구요. 더 찾아보니 이민자들 덕이라는 말이 있네요. 유럽 국가가 육아복지면에서 한국보다 더 좋은 건 맞는 말이라 단순 통계를 보고 이야기한 건 맞아요. 그쪽 말이 맞는 부분도 있지만 안살아봐서 모르겠지만 이란 말은 좀 웃기게 들리네요.반대로 그 나라에 산다고 해서 모든 걸 다 아는 것도 아닌데 말이죠.
“people around me are not having kids so i shouldn’t too” is interesting because people around me (25-30) are having children so i don’t want it 😩
personally i wouldn’t be able to handle the burden of a child, i still feel like a child that just recently gained a little independence (i’m 25)
Japan (as well as many other Asian countries) is extremely big on peer pressure, it's always about caring what others think - in an extremely unhealthy way. What do you think why the majority of people there is doing so miserable lol. Stick out like nail and you'll be hammered down.
same, the more people i see who have kids, the less i want them, because most of those parents seem miserable and have boring lives, they lack an identity.
My thoughts exactly. I'm going to be 25 next month and still feel like a kid, I have yet to learn about responsibilities. Not only having a kid but even thinking about marriage gives me nightmares 😹
Can't speak to Japan personally, but where I'm from a house needs to be a million+ $$$, wages are from the 1970's, and corporations matter to politicians more than the people who voted them in!
aussie
Dutch. Same here.
That lady saying that young people just want to have fun is so detached from the reality… how is barely making a living with bleak future prospects considered fun. Not to mention a lot of people nowadays deal with psychological issues. Older generation messed up and are a still blaming younger people who have to bear responsibility for the problems older generation generated
Due to high cost of caring for children. From pregnancy until college
All of these people, regardless of their opinions, are quite conscious of these issues and articulate as well! That’s great.
It's the same everywhere. Due to the labor market, for your child to have a good life they need to go to college and that's expensive. Since people have moved off the farm into cities, kids are not a source of labor but instead an economic drag on the household. Parents also need to sock away a large amount for retirement. Japan should treat this as a national security issue. If as a nation they can get their birth rate up, they will be much better off than their Korean and Chinese neighbors.
Here's the problem... It's not just the quantity, but also the quality of the next generation that matters. Do we want jerks and bitches for the next generation of mankind? Will people not just pass on their values onto kids just because it's their values? Why should the next generation become obsessed with the darkness when the light that is Jesus Christ will guide them?
@@BrendanRaymondKoroKoro agree, that the politicians serve their corporate and industrial patrons. And those captains of industry keep driving us towards something that may soon not even need us.
@@linkskywalker5417 wtf
@@josebenardi1554 What do you mean?
@@linkskywalker5417 no
I never heard of a nation or civilization that got extinct because they stopped having babies. It won't happen with Japan also. It might reduce further to a certain point but that's not necessarily a bad thing. We have more than enough people in the world already.
Because they were conquered by other countries before natural extinction
I suppose you're mostly correct. It wouldn't happen anytime soon. But somehow if their population got to like 4,000(just as an example of a low number) North Korea may just take it for themselves and then Japanese would really be extinct.
You haven’t? Clearly haven’t read much history then…. Yikes
@@anahitaazadeh3449 Enlighten me
@@Lancorian Multiple indigenous tribes we can't even account for because they were slaughtered and or sold into slavery.
This isn't complicated:
super expensive to have a kid + labor markets around the world are more competitive than ever + expected to work extreme hours = people aren't stupid
In the absolute best case scenario, the average worker (at least in the United States) can be expected to slave away until they're 62 years of age and hopefully the combination of the money they've saved and social security will sustain them in retirement. In the worst case scenario, you have people working forever, never able to retire and in many, MANY cases, unable to afford the rent where they live anymore and being therefore kicked out.
Salaries haven't kept up with inflation one bit, so why would people continue to have kids?
People are finally free to decide against having children without being constantly judged by society, their parents, etc.
And that's a good thing, because there is absolutely nothing wrong with not wanting children for whatever reason.
Thank you, I really needed to hear this today🙌🏻 Even you can't escape society's or parents's judgement...
@@zeynepzeynep1571 It's OK not to. Having children is a choice. I understand this as a Christian. God leaves it as a choice that is not imposed upon us. Some people have children who shouldn't and end up unhappy... then the children are miserable, too. That's not fair.
@@snorkchop8134 You're absolutely right! but sometimes I wonder if I think too much, other people not give a second thought, they're getting married or having children easily. I had a difficult childhood and I don't like children that much, but it doesn't get easier to be judged CONSTANTLY by anyone and everyone. Thank you darling❤
@@zeynepzeynep1571 It's true that some people don't give these things a second thought, and that's actually pretty dangerous. My grandma and grandpa didn't give it a second thought either. They didn't listen to God's will or timing. They weren't meant to be together, hated each other, abused my mom and aunt. There were times my mom was near starvation because they never had any food, let alone clothes or soap, and my grandparents didn't care. God never intended that life for my mom... or my grandparents. People act like you should just throw caution to the wind and do whatever seems OK. Please don't listen to them. It's a bad idea. Trust me, you are most definitely not thinking too much. If you are meant to, you'll know deep down inside. If you ever decide you want to, remember in that case that if you came to God through Christ, and waited on His timing, He would provide and have a specific plan for it, so that you wouldn't have to do it the wrong way. If you decide to never have kids, that's fine. There's more to this life than that! :)
I hope you're well!
@@snorkchop8134 I'm so sorry they had to go through this that's terrible! Thank you so much again your wise words dear, means a lot... ❤
When my grandparents were young, they could have lived off my grandpa's wage but they both chose to work so they could save more money for their family.
Who could have guessed what both parents working would be a must in most modern countries, and it's still not enough to have a decent life
Krespi where are your parents from.
Sadly, cost of living rise far more than wages in term of %
Elon Musk's statement is spot on. Most Japanese do not speak English today, but the few who do are choosing to work abroad because the salaries in Japan are much lower than in the U.S. or China. Furthermore, high taxes are imposed on salaries to support the elderly, who make up the majority of the population. Who would want to live in such a country? Even if they work hard, their salaries will not go up because the economy has not grown since 2008. It is very difficult to raise children in this country. It is a shame that my country is falling.
English education in Japan is so bad lol, teachers teaching English there have no whatsoever energy and no English practice social interactions. They only see it as academic and not seen as a powerful asset to have to able to communicate everywhere at ease and be able to travel/work abroad.
@@cprogrammerguy It should be known by now that english teachers most likely are looking to smash and dash while working in Japan.
The work culture seems like a huge issue.
Plus Japan is statically a depresses nation.
I think it's a mixture of economics and social.
I don't thing the government having benefits will help, as some European nation have done so and it did nothing. And they don't have nearly as much of a bad time.
Japan has been stagnant since the 90s economically. And lots of debt.
@@notmybusiness3055 bruh 💀
@@cprogrammerguy it doesn't help that most sexpat are weeb who head to Japan to get with women also teach poor English on the side.
In my opinion, the response of the lady starting at 2:08 can probably tell how sustainable it was to live and reproduce during their time, to the extent that they can still aspire to have children, not just for their future, but for the future of their country as well. Versus how it's seemingly unsustainable in this current time to aspire to have children, not just for potential parents to protect themselves from economic and emotional backlash, but to also protect potential children from the ramifications of the currently worsening conditions. Makes me question whether we're currently entering an unsustainable future or not. But I do hope this is not the case in other parts of the world.
spoiler alert:we are experiencing unsustainable conditions everywhere.
@@jenevievecrouch1145 Africa is doing fine tbh. Booming birthrates and the countries are developping rapidly.
Actively fighting AGAINST efforts to reduce CO2 emissions by reducing burning fossil fuels to reduce Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is SELFISH and EVIL. Eating and thus torturing animals by eating meat when so many plant based proteins exist is SELFISH and EVIL.
2:08 Stupid ignorant spoiled selfish woman who pretends to know everybody else's situation or what they do, and thinks she is entitled to FORCE people to maintain the status quo for her.
Actively fighting AGAINST efforts to reduce CO2 emissions by reducing burning fossil fuels to reduce Anthropogenic Global Warming (AGW) is SELFISH and EVIL. Eating and thus torturing animals by eating meat when so many plant based proteins exist is SELFISH and EVIL.
It's always funny to hear older generations comment on us as "selfish" if we don't want to have kids. They were living in a time when there were no other ways, and they had to have kids, which doesn't remotely mean that they are "selfless".
People blaming feminism when feminism is the least popular thing in ASIA.
😂😂😂🤭🤭🤭🤭
WAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAH
賛成です!
70% of the men in Japanese are more feminine than West what are you saying
feminism is the reason why women have to go into the workforce now, salaries and higher cost of living also mean men cant be the sole bread earners which has exacerbated things
@@missingno88 then earn more, the reason women work nowadays is due to feminism AND the fact that males are too poor to afford anything let alone a house. Yet they expect women to be housewife to males
I am Japanese .Sometimes I think about this topic. I think the reason why there are so many people who don’t get marry in Japan is Japanese people is always looking for ideal partner for them nowadays because of SNS. Especially Japanese woman need the man who is high level. For example having good looking ,good to communicate and earn high salary, etc
That is not good, totally not good at all.
The women themselves are also not perfect in anyway, why set such a high standard when looking for men... やばいんですね
when are the elders going to realize that their generation ruined many things which is why everything is so expensive. they call us selfish yet they’re the ones who messed up so many things for us and the future generations to come. us young people who do not want children, will continue to enjoy ourselves as much as we can and live our lives free of children. if you as an elder are accusing us of being selfish, need i remind you that us younger people are working with what your generation left us.
- everything is expensive, rent is insanely high and is bound to go up at some point.
- healthcare here is absolutely garbage (speaking as someone from the states)
- clean water is running out
- climate change is getting worse and worse and scientists have been warning us yet the govs. dont do anything about it. if they do, it’s not enough.
- majority of people live paycheck to paycheck and can barely make it on their own, this is where a second job comes in just so you can have a roof above your head and food. who in their right mind would have a child??
- long work hours and not getting paid enough. children aren’t things you just pop out and drop off at a daycare. they need quality time with their parent(s). they are a person who’s going to grow up and at some point have their likes, dislikes, issues, personality, and opinions. children deserve to spend time with their parents.
parents deserve to spend time with their child.
dude, you have a lot of problems, better move to one of the scandinavian countries
Ppl that don’t want children only make the population decline worse. And average age increasing is just as detrimental to society as all the other things you listed.
but the thing is, is overpopulation good for the earth? japan is still considered overcrowded comparing to its land.
@@gamingsoup563 dude people want children but they can’t afford to have them. personally i wanted to have a kid but its way too expensive. so that’s out the window.
@@shinratensei5305 apparently you know me so well to determine i have problems, moving is also expensive and is easier said than done lol thanks for the suggestion i guess (like i haven’t thought of it before lmao)
It's a mixture of factors, of course. Global economical crisis, the messy environmental changes, the less overall socialization mixed with anxiety and high expectations, less time to dedicate to themselves and/or to family/friends because of strict/weird work schedules, the wars, the overall worse mental state of people, the controversial impact of social media (in particular in youngsters), the criminality, and the overall uncertainty of the fate of the world.
And, on top of that, there are the people like me, who simply want to keep the most time possible for themselves in a world that literally steals it from your hands. And I'm lazy lol
"I'm not married. I don't have financial stability."
This dude just wrote my Tinder profile for me.
Don't have kids when you don't take care of your mental health. Get to know you first. Heal your trauma. Rather having no kids than being an abusive, narcissistic etc parent. Kids getting traumatize from the egoistic parenting. A lot of parents should not have kids. We should also think for our future kids.
I remember when everybody and their dog didn't have supposed mental health problems, but now it's all anyone talks about. What a joke. Everyone is a pathetic wimp nowadays.
@@hnlpharmd yup
Remember the days when child rearing was a community activity?
Me neither.
But I believe in the concept. Financial support, emotional support everything involved in raising a child is something two individuals have to think about “can I do that on my own.” It shouldn’t be. Something as simple as ur parents taking care of ur children for a few days is a huge help.
We always look to the government to make the way for certain things. And we should in many cases.
But I think it’s also a community issue.
I grew up in a close knit family and family friends who are more than prevalent in my life giving me opportunities my parents couldn’t give on their own. I couldn’t dream of raising a child without them or assistance from my community or my friends.
Unfortunately not everyone has that environment. Sometimes to a nation level. 😕
> ur parents taking care of ur children for a few days is a huge help
This is another side of the problem. People delay having kids until they've finished uni and got a good job but if their parents did the same they could find themselves stuck in the middle trying to look after both their kids and parents.
Interesting topic for sure!
In Sweden it was normal until the 1900s for a women to have four or five children. After the 1900s the society developed very fast (Education, women's rights, more prosperity etc.) and it was down to two children per women. In Mexico it was seven children per women in the 70s. Today in Mexico, it is down to two children as well.
In the future I think it will be the norm to have one or two children. The countries that still are lagging behind is in Africa. Women in these parts of the world are also getting more educated and enter the work force with ease nowadays. It is just a matter of time before they reach the levels of prosperity as developed countries has.
The main thing today is that you always have the option to have children or not. If you want children, go for it. If you don't, then so be it. As long as you have the ability to choose your path in life of what you wanna do. There is no right or wrong in your decisions. Older generations did not have the luxury too choose as today's generations. I think though if they would have the possibility, they would have less children or none just as the generations of today.
This hit spot on. I'm American but my family is Mexican. My grandmother had 8 kids. And then there's 19 grand kids in total. The majority of us grand kids are above 30 and out of the 19 grand kids only 4 have 1 kid each. Such a shift!
It’s more complicated than that because the kids you have today will be the ones funding the retirement of your generation and take care of you when you’re old. In many western countries the senior boom is a huge problem, especially as people live longer. If you don’t have children it will have a great impact on how comfortable your last decades will be. I can speak from experience working in the medical field: unless they’re rich, childless old people are by far the most vulnerable.
And this is a vicious circle because the older the population gets, the more taxed and pressured to produce are the younger generation which means even less opportunity to afford kids.
6:03 where the dude says he's the only child and doesn't want to end his family lineage. Me also being the only child, I always think with the powers I have, I should definitely end my part of the family lineage 😂😂
Hahahaha
lolooolllloooool
The dude saying that Japanese guys are too shy makes sense. A lot of guys aren't aggressive when it comes to making a move on the ladies, so a lot of them date foreigners who aren't shy about talking to the ladies.
There aren't any foreigners since the past few gov't has been anti foreigners. Canada is the same, girls literally begging to be approached and dudes are looking the other way, way more into video games and table games.
And why should they? Women dont like it when men agressivley approach anyways.
@@supahjadi8944 sorry, when I say aggressive I don’t mean harassing women. From what I know they don’t even approach women they like or are interested in to see if there’s mutual interest. The fear of not know how the lady will react is enough to prevent them from even trying.
So yeah, when I say aggressive I don’t mean harassing. They expect the women to make the first move. Is that what women want these days?
For people in the middle class, giving birth to only a child and giving him/her a better education is rational in this highly competitive society. For people in the bottom class, staying single is rational rather than having children and struggling to survive the rest of their life.
Before the internet era, people especially women who are more than 30 and staying single were regarded as complete losers so they struggled to get married and give birth to children, but nowadays being single in the 30s is normal. What the government should do is to change society to be more sustainable even in an aging society.
Having experience with both Japanese and Western cultures, I think in Japan the government really needs to step up efforts to reduce work hours, improve labor benefits such as paid sick days, additional mandated minimum vacation days, and also provide tax incentives for having children, assistance with day care and health care expenses, maternity and paternity leaves. On the other hand, Japanese companies need to be more cognizant and accommodating to women in the workforce by providing work and family life balance and financial security.
Same problem is happening in Canada. We can barely afford to live ourselves, let alone bringing another human life into the equation. It’s not that we don’t want kids(of course some don’t) but we can’t afford it. Either buy a home or have a child, although many won’t even be able to afford either.
That old lady reminded me of my father and many of his acquaintances, who admonish younger generation for focusing on their own personal goals and pleasing themselves rather than sacrificing themselves for the development of the country. I also live in a country where the birth rate has dramatically dropped, which is the result of a mix of problems, such as exorbitant housing prices, terrible workers' rights, work-life imbalance and gender inequality in workplace. And it sickens me that some people just turn a blind eye to those issues and blame young people for the phenomenon.
Life is about adding to the canon and achievements of your people and nation through toil and reproduction. Not pursuing "happiness" which to most people is a never ending dopamine trip. Countries that fall into the decadence you extoll wont last very long in the long run but I guess that doesnt concern you. You probably think you will never pass away either.
@Ruimin Tian Agreed, older generation is out of touch with the current situation and pulls statistics from their times to justify.
@@unatco6554 You really hit on something there with the dopamine rush thing. These younger folks clearly cannot differentiate between momentary bouts of euphoria and actual fulfillment, and the latter only comes from successfully shouldering responsibility and overcoming challenges. Sacrifice and adversity are prerequisites for achieving fulfillment, and given that younger folks avoid these things like the plague they have no hope whatsoever of achieving any semblance of contentment in life.
I hope that the government can at least incentivise those who want to have a child
they do actually, they pay them
Most of the costs come from daycare and schools that cost a ton, provided you can even get your kid in for most of them. The way it is set up from what I know there is no clear cut solution but to get rid of all of it and do it all over, plus less scarcity to drive down price, but then workers will be too scarce since they are already, just adding a bunch of schools (mostly government funded so low pay) getting staff where they have to compete with commercial workers where there is way more money to be made.
Then those apartments in bigger cities are notoriously small already, gotta have more space for those kids which means more rent.
Just handing out cash means schools and daycare will just expect more pay from parents and family homes will want their slice of that cash too, driving up rent and house prices even more than normal creating the need for more handouts.
Even if you do that, this channel and others plus official figures show more single people than ever, single people do not make babies, and if they do numbers from any country will show a single parent is less desirable.
If you ask me, the root of the problem is a distorted work life balance. So I would start there. Give maximum working hours, straight up for everyone, say 68 hours, I have had that on cruise ships, contract for max 68 hours or else your work will suffer and you will be too fatigued (obviously exceptions can be military, firefighters when really needed, doctors, etc). Enforce a max 6 day working week, training for your work on behalf of your employer *must* be counted as work so no more fiddling there, France does that too. I once worked a hella illegal amount of hours for 6 months, 7 days a week and it wrecks you plus your relationship, I was single at the end of that even though I got paid.
Moneywise: Russia has an incentive as a 1 time big payout, new parents spend it, and done. So don't. Some European countries have a system where parents for kids up to 12 or up to 18 receive an x amount every 3 or 6 months. Not a boatload, but it helps out. Another thing that is done in Russia is better mortgage, banks are made to give better conditions and lower interest for mortgages for young families. Gotta watch that it does not bankrupt Japan further though, their national debt already is skyhigh.
Suppose Japanese women were set up with work at home via internet at least partly sponsored by the government and employers. she could become pregnant, work at home til close to delivery time, have the baby, stay home and work remotely. the stigma of having a baby without a marriage is likely large in Japan. Such a program for married women could be possible. If the idea would become popular, Japan could eventually close the gap. add home schooling to the mix to eliminate the expense of child care outside the home
@@jamegumb7298 Europe and Russia despite those aren’t doing much better than Japan with birth rates tbh
Those incentives still won't make up for the costs of raising a child
It's not just Japanese, other countries as well. I have one kid and I don't want anymore. He is so sweet and adorable, and also very time consuming. If I can't provide the best, I won't give birth. I choose to devote my time and attention to my child. People kept talking me into have a second child and I told them straight No No No. They finally take no after so many years. It's not their business, because they won't contribute any financial to my family. People can talk talk talk, when it comes to money, everyone runs away. Plus, if I have more children, we can't travel everywhere we want. Back then, I remember people get shamed for just being pregnant.
I had asked asked the same to my friend from Japan, she said , low birth rates is because of the financial problems faced while raising a child, so couples don't want to have children.
Also south Korea fertility rate is 0.58 which is a deep concern for the nation .
If I am not wrong Japan's fertility rate is around 1.3 or 1.4 ,not sure about it .
@@BrendanRaymondKoroKoro yes I completely agree with you, since our parents raised us ,it's our responsibility to take care of them in Old ages, people are thinking about the present, but are not farsighted enough to see what will be the consequences of these steps in future.
Thats the real reason; japanese are actually sxally active and there are lots of childless marriages here. Unlike what the west is spreading
@eskayjo thanks for correction.
@eskayjo perhaps no one wants a child there.
Can you explain whats mean 0.58 and 1.4 fertility rate .
Raising a kid is not only expensive but also annoying and tiring. It’s just not worth it tbh… Humanity doesn’t really need a future anyway.
Imagine ur parents had the same mentality
Well, we’re kind of doomed already so I don’t see a point to bring a child into this world just to live in this kind of environment. Besides having children is expensive and time consuming
@@adith9327 I hope they would have had this mentality, I didn’t ask to be born. They treat me like a burden no matter how much I try anyways
@@everythingsfinett3903 Yikes
@@everythingsfinett3903 I relate to you
It is trending. Not only Japan, but also China/South Korea/Taiwan... all east asian areas are experiencing similar issues. young generation people prefer career/personal life style to having children. many factors may contribute: culture, well educated population, wealthy society, etc ...
In USA too. Actually I thought about not having children early on but as I got older, I change my mind. Unfortunately, right now am not financially stable and my boyfriend is not either. We do plan to have a few kids one day. My friends who are a bit younger, already married, do not plan to have children right now either because they want to make more money. They also think raising even a pet like a dog is too much work. I don't think they are ready emotionally and mentally either.
I feel having or not having kids is an end result of questions that need to be asked starting with do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend and if not are you actively looking and if not...why not?
This was very interesting, I didn't know this was happening in Japan. The interviewees gave answers that were well rounded on the birth rate situation such as economic, individual, and social aspects. I agree with the economy aspect of it, you can't just increase one thing without increasing (or decreasing) the other. Very informative, Nice Job👍
I mean it isn't just Japan issue exclusive just that they are smarter about it for not having kids when the conditions don't favor the children. We live in times now that we get paid so little to work so many hours a long with the costs of living just being so expensive. Idk why governments make such a huge deal when it all happens because of how they are shaping the economical living and working conditions....
Its interesting that people aren’t worried about other similarly sized countries disappearing. Like Scandinavia. Because they have around 10% of Japan’s population with low birth rates. Humans don’t have to be locusts. Sustainably sized populations might even help the planet thrive in the long term, instead of the record setting heat and flooding Japan has been dealing with this summer (not to mention the fires and droughts in drier climates).
just refer to the parties rather than the countries, please. there is no culture outside of who is exchanging money directly (and then also indirectly) with each other.
sweden has one of the better birth rates in europe, same with france. Both countries have great parental leave options.
Lol who cares there are other white people in Europe, we’ll just replace Scandinavian population with people from Africa and Middle East.
@Swarmpope its 1,75 compared to 1,45 in Austria fe. Its definatly better. Of course not Mexico or India with 2,1 but for european standards in the better line. and now imagine Austria has a pretty high immigrant population too which mainly contributes to the birth rates!
More people = more money as simple as that.
All these comments gives me a lot of hope for japan's future tbh. I don't the world we'll be out of babies, Japan is no exception. But hearing people wanting to Japan to be global and have even less working hours is just a good sign they're actually willing to make a change from within. It's time to open up frontier and let more foreigners to live there with more easier policies.
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heres an alternate title - Do fallen angels playing pretend masquerading as wheat (aka tares) not want to have babies anymore? Comment section is literally just them btw.
Great video. California, U.S. is the same. It seems globally this generation have common understanding that there’s higher cost of living on top of corporations taking advantage of the working class. There’s also a liberation within women and young people changing the workforce and social norms. It’s weird to say where we are heading as humans continue to evolve.
I blame:
- host/hostess bars
- maid cafes
- anime pillows
- hikikomori
- general gen-Z social anxiety
Hello admin, do you take a request from viewers?
That grandma is savage 😆
I´v kind of have this talk with my mom in Finland many times XD
Let childfree people be and help those who actually want kids 👍
Sure. The question is, help how, and who pays for it?
You are saying to help immigrants coming from middle east
People cannot afford to take care of themselves, so they avoid having children and yet, you expect people to pay for someone else's child? Hell no.
And this is the perfect example why you should listen to and respect your elders.
Seriously, why do you still want more and more humans all the time ? We are billions, we already know that our current number is not even sustainable, why always more ? More of everything, more humans, more growth, more money, more power over everything. It has to stop. I don't say that we should go back to a hunter-gatherer lifestyle, ditch all our technology or whatever. But just, stop asking more of everything just for the sake of having more, look at what you have, what you can do and what you NEED (as in necessary, not as in a child demanding the moon).
They treat us like products, quantity is always their focus rather than quality.
Capitalism.
@@WesleyB04 That's original, commie edgelord. Feel the Bern!
I don't think is just the Japanese. I had my daughter 3 years ago and everything is expensive, literally we're overpaying for every service that she needs, from kindergartene to doctors to diapers, everything is so expensive.
As a Filipina married to a Japanese guy, I raise a lot of alarm bells on the possibility of having a child, even just one in the country. Economy is on a downward spiral and cost of living os through the roof. Family pressure is not helping and older gnenerations from both sides do not understand how hard it is to live and money is a huge factor. Same in the Philippines. The only thing I'm hopeful in the Philippines is my parents gave me my own house and lot and we have small businesses going on but still I am quite not sure yet if I could raise my child in the Philippines.
Plus the world is really not the best place to raise the new generation of humans even though part of me is a bit optimistic that with proper parenting, our kid would be raised as a decent human as much as we can but hmmm
Our country is approaching this situation too. Our child birth declined so much from the past decade. Only the lower class still keep popping babies
The world really isn't the most healthy place right now to raise children. In this generation were good and bad information is easily accessible.
However by taking the right measures it is possible.
Those who thinks like that just goes extinct. Children will born in tough times and will have to fight it out to create better Japan. No one will give you free candy. World only moves forward on hope. Have children quickly. Stop thinking about doom. Stop baseless anxiety. Have children quickly. Older Mennand women are infertile, have children at young age. Child can create his own best world. Don't worry. Japan is best place for rich people to have children. I think your husband is rich
@@boycottnok1466 Than go on and raise 20 kids. What? Too hard?
For the same reason the US and Korea arent having kids: ITS TOO EXPENSIVE!!! The cost of living has skyrocketed in the past YEAR. Food is too expensive, Landlords are taking ALL of the affordable houses and charging rent higher than a mortgage with little to no restraint, jobs arent even paying minimum wage by federal standards as well as the workplace stress is burning us out faster than we can blink.
Well when your entire culture revolves around working and not making time for personal life or family why are you surprised when they don't want to have a family?
I remember something of not having a Japanese citizenship even if you marry a Japanese citizen. They still have this isolation going on in Japan.
My friend worked in Japan for 10 years and married a beautiful Japanese woman and now they have kids. It's so sad despite for living and working in Japan for 10 years, He still not have his Japanese Citizenship. He pay taxes but the benefits are not the same as his wife. He had no choice but to live and go back in Canada with his family.
Not having good benefits and not being a regular employee in Japan made him decide to leave the country, If it not had been for those circumstances he and his family could've lived in Japan
Japan’s citizenship law makes it almost impossible to become a naturalized citizen unfortunately
Were the kids citizens? Doesn't that factor into it?
@@thomasgrabkowski8283 Good thing because otherwise White men would yet again colonise another Asian country.
@@EvilKris It depends on the context. If you originally hold a very weak passport, then getting Japanese citizenship and renouncing your original would benefit you
Because he didnt applied for citizenship thats the reason
Being an old timer, I don’t envy the young because things seem to be more difficult but since change is the only constant maybe that’s always been so.
I don't know if they are more difficult, but they have certainly become a lot more complicated.
@@mikicerise6250 perhaps a better choice of words, thank you.
@@BrendanRaymondKoroKoro No, you wouldn't have, or you would not be moaning on TH-cam. You would be living your simpler, more peaceful life and working your farm. Absolutely NOTHING in the modern globalised economy, with all its technology, prevents you from pursuing that if it really were your goal.
@@BrendanRaymondKoroKoro Really? Well, here in Spain some rural towns are so desperate for young people they will literally *pay* you to move in and start your farm. Look into it.
@@BrendanRaymondKoroKoro That's what I don't like about people they think everything in other countries are the same, they'd be surprised to know what many younger generations in U.S. are not having children due to the fact it's financially hard to scrape by despite it being one of the biggest economies in the world.