Hello, Everyone!
Here’s Sachi!
Two Different Perspectives
I will consider this question from two different perspectives: from an individual viewpoint and from the perspective of the Japanese economy as a whole.
From an individual viewpoint
Perhaps there are two different opinions among the generations.
I think the older generation will say, “You should have children.”, and the younger generation will say, “Having children is a choice.” I think people in their 50s represent the demographic that is changing their thinking.
From the perspective of the elderly, it would be the same as not taking care of your parents.
From a younger person’s point of view, each choice should be respected, and they will not judge whether it is good or not.
However, the age ratio of the Japanese population today is overwhelmingly people in their 50s and older. Inevitably, then, the choice not to have children is as bad as not valuing one’s parents.
When I was in my early thirties, my boss, who was in his seventies, told me to “Get married and have children as soon as possible.” I was surprised at his reason. He said, “A woman’s happiness is to have children.” Even older people, especially men, think this way.
In postwar Japan, it was commonplace for husbands to work and wives to raise children and do housework. Everyone got married, raised children, and started a family.
People who stray from this common life are sometimes considered eccentric. They assume that what is common sense to them is also common sense to others.
Therefore, people who stray from their own common sense are judged to be eccentric.
From the perspective of the Japanese economy
This is a serious issue. This is because the current declining birthrate has a significant impact on the economy and society.
Economic
The number of workers will be greatly reduced.
Today’s 70-somethings still have enough energy left over to work, but even so, they cannot work as hard as their younger counterparts. So they shorten their working hours. This means that the company will need to secure young workers and a workforce that can make up for the time lost by older workers.
In addition to not being able to secure workers, the workforce will be in a state of shortage for the hours that the elderly are unable to work.
Social
- The elderly who do not have children need to be cared for socially. But because there are far fewer caregivers, the burden on each caregiver is greater.
- Opportunities for children to interact with each other are reduced, and children’s social skills are impaired by their parents’ needless overprotectiveness.
The declining birthrate will increase the number of young people with poor social skills, which will lead to a vicious cycle of burdensome individual workloads, mental illness, and another decrease in the number of workers, which will surely cause serious damage to the Japanese economy.
From an economic standpoint, the choice not to have children can create a very bad situation.
Nevertheless, it is the job of politicians to do something about the situation, so I would like to see them come up with policies that are more in tune with the current situation, rather than just telling people to have children.
The most important reason is that I do not like children. How can a person who does not like a child love his or her own child? I am not capable of taking responsibility for the lives of others, so I choose not to.
Sometimes people with children tell me that I should have children.
If you tell them what you think, they will surely not be convinced. It is impossible to persuade them, because pros and cons will never be able to agree with each other. Therefore, I smile and nod at their opinions and say nothing more.
I do not think that the choice to not have children is a bad one at all. I believe that each person should be free to lead his or her own life.
I believe that many young people in Japan today have such a flexible mindset. And I feel that they are more reserved in asking women if they are married or have children.
I think it is because these young children grew up in an environment of recession they know that marriage and having children are not the only things that will make them happy.
As more and more people in Japan think like them, I think the impression that the choice to “not have children” is a bad one is becoming less and less common.
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