Most Single Japanese Women Want to Stay Unmarried

[karyn]

from yahoo

TOKYO (Reuters) - Most single Japanese women prefer not to marry and believe they can live happily alone for the rest of their life, a poll showed Friday, casting another shadow on the future of a country plagued by a falling birthrate.

About seven in ten single Japanese women surveyed by the conservative Yomiuri newspaper said they would rather stay unwed.

"The result reflects a recent trend among single women who no longer attach social stigma to choosing the single life," the daily said.

Japan's government is struggling to stem a tumbling birthrate and keep the population from shrinking.

The country's fertility rate -- the average number of children born to a woman during her lifetime -- fell to 1.29 in 2003, the lowest in the post-World War II period.

In Tokyo, the figure was a startling 0.9987.

Underscoring concerns that an aging population may dent future growth in the world's second-largest economy, Japan said Monday that its population grew only 0.05 percent in the year to Oct. 1, its slowest increase in 54 years. Japan's population totaled an estimated 127,687,000 as of Oct. 1, 2004.

A government think tank has forecast that Japan's population will peak in 2006 and start to shrink the following year.

If present trends persist, the population would fall to about 100.6 million in 2050. Among oft-cited reasons for the falling birthrate are higher education levels, changing attitudes toward marriage and individual freedom, the high financial burden of child rearing, and the hardships involved for working women given long hours on the job and a persistent dearth of daycare.

The Yomiuri said 74 percent of surveyed men and women in their 20s said they believe women can be happy unmarried, while the rate dropped to 66 percent of those in their 30s and 58 percent in their 40s. "The result depicted a tendency among younger generations to remain single, leading observers to the conclusion that the number of people who marry late will further increase and will lower the birthrate," the newspaper said.

Unless steps are taken, the shortage of children will create problems for Japan including damage to its economic growth prospects, higher social welfare costs for individuals, and even psychological problems from poorly socialized youth, said a government white paper released in October.

[Tequila Zaire]

They've been talking about this for quite some time and the conceran is real when one talks hard numbers...but as in everything...nature takes over at some point. I don't think it'll decline as predicted....kids always tend to pop up at some point to even all this out.

[cheinara wraithwalker]

They've been talking about this for quite some time and the conceran is real when one talks hard numbers...but as in everything...nature takes over at some point. I don't think it'll decline as predicted....kids always tend to pop up at some point to even all this out.

There are always those "Oops!" babies you can rely on.

[Tequila Zaire]

There are always those "Oops!" babies you can rely on.

Not so much that as the fact that the biological need to have kids seems to kick in at some point you know?

[cheinara wraithwalker]

Not so much that as the fact that the biological need to have kids seems to kick in at some point you know?

Very. True. I have a friend that's about 10 years older than me, and she wants a baby like CRAZY. Her poor husband! Not that I mind kids, but she's talking about having a houseful.

[Ichigo]

Well they're way overpopulated, so I don't think that's a bad thing. The women will probably change their minds anyway once they get sick of being lonely.

[Nuada_Airgetlam]

The officials are forgetting one really important fact. That the women do not want to marry japanese men because most of them are true dirtbags and think that **** is ok. Plus they do not treat the women with anything other than disdain. Or to put it better American men are prized because we treat them better than the Japanese men do. As I have seen it I know that this is not always the case but somethings that we do Japanese men will not do.

[Morning Glory]

why would an decreased population cause pschological problems and increased higher social welfare costs? the later would only be true if the majority of the population were old people and thus suffering more from medical and other socially dependent costs... but come on 100 million people leaves no shortage of a population. it's not like their race is in danger of dying out. the only danger with a smaller population is to corporate intrests because there is less people to work and to buy and make consumer products, but given that there is not shortage of those neccesary to run a society and an ecnonomy either, I don't see that being any problem with personal well being, the opposite in fact.

[Ichigo]

The officials are forgetting one really important fact. That the women do not want to marry japanese men because most of them are true dirtbags and think that **** is ok. Plus they do not treat the women with anything other than disdain. Or to put it better American men are prized because we treat them better than the Japanese men do. As I have seen it I know that this is not always the case but somethings that we do Japanese men will not do.

That is true. That's why it's become such a trend for Japanese men to dress like women, so they will appeal to women more.

[Nuada_Airgetlam]

why would an decreased population cause pschological problems and increased higher social welfare costs? the later would only be true if the majority of the population were old people and thus suffering more from medical and other socially dependent costs... but come on 100 million people leaves no shortage of a population. it's not like their race is in danger of dying out. the only danger with a smaller population is to corporate intrests because there is less people to work and to buy and make consumer products, but given that there is not shortage of those neccesary to run a society and an ecnonomy either, I don't see that being any problem with personal well being, the opposite in fact.

Well a lot of the population is old and the children must take care of the parents so that they are usually in their 30's by the time they have children or something like that. ANd yes a lot of the corperations are worried because if they get no replenshiments for the family business then what happens the economy starts a downward spiral. You must have workers that make money and products so that they can buy them it is how an economy works.