Lack of affordable child care, discrimination against women in the workforce and the sheer cost of raising children all make it less appealing for some mothers to have more children.
So-called “prime age” workers, those 25 to 54, are working jobs at a higher rate than before the pandemic. But the picture gets more complex for older workers.
Today, nearly a third of Japan’s population is over the age of 65. Compared to how much wealthy nations’ populations will age in the coming decades though, Japan “is only the tip of the iceberg” says New York Times journalist Lauren Leatherby.