Tokyo, March 15 (IANS). Amid the declining birth rate in Japan, a new survey report has further increased the government’s concern. According to the latest survey, a large number of youth in the country now want to avoid becoming parents.
A survey conducted by Rohto Pharmaceutical in December 2025 found that 62.6 percent of unmarried youth aged 18 to 29 said they did not want children. This figure is higher than 56.6 percent by 2024, indicating that the thinking of “child-free lifestyle” is increasing rapidly among the youth.
The 400 youth who participated in the survey gave many reasons behind this. The most prominent of these include financial pressure, impact on career and concerns about responsibilities related to raising a child. Many participants also said that seeing experiences related to pregnancy and parenting on social media made them more anxious.
If seen on the basis of gender, reluctance towards children was found to be more among women. According to the survey, 64.7 percent women do not want to take the responsibility of children, while this figure among men was 60.7 percent. When this survey started in 2020, for the first time the percentage of women has been recorded more than men.
This trend has increased continuously in the last few years. While in 2020, only 44 percent of the youth said that they did not want to have children, in 2023 this figure rose above 50 percent for the first time to 55.2 percent.
According to Japan Today, a spokesperson for the company said after the survey that the results show that society and workplaces should provide better support and information to young people before they have children, so that they can feel more confident about balancing family and career.
The Japanese government has launched several schemes to deal with the declining birth rate. These include steps like increasing childcare allowance, providing additional benefits during maternity-paternity leave and financial assistance to families.
Despite this, the situation still remains worrying. Only 705,809 babies will be born in Japan in 2025, a record low for the tenth consecutive year, according to Health Ministry data.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the crisis a “silent emergency” in February. He says that if the decline in birth rate continues, it can have a serious impact on the economic and social strength of the country.
Experts believe that if Japan does not solve the social challenges of youth related to economic insecurity, work-life balance and family, population decline could accelerate in the coming years.
–IANS
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