Not be outdone, the Form 4 Geography class have been tweeting the Japanese Government's official twitter account to warn them about the population problems that the country continues to face. A few sample tweets are included below.
The issue that the class are referring to is Japan's high dependency ratio (A high number of economically inactive people such as pensioners and school children that need to be supported by the working population). As a stage 5 country in the demographic transition model, Japan has had a long period of low birth rates and a high life expectancy. Consequently it has a high number of retirees compered to the numbers who are economically active. This puts a significant tax burden on those working who need to pay for the pensions and care that the elderly receive.The diagram below explains more.
By comparison Brazil is a stage 3 country in the demographic transition model. It has a high birth rate, lower life expectancy and a higher relative percentage of the population that are economically active, this means that the dependency ratio is lower. In addition, as a higher percentage of the population still work in subsistence agriculture and the informal sector there is also a lower percentage of the population drawing on pensions and elderly care provided by the state. These two factors mean that the tax requirements per worker are lower.
Why should Japan be concerned? Below is an EDpuzzle that the class worked through. It outlines some of the problems presented by having a high dependency ratio. For example lower GDP growth and the increased need for migration to maintain numbers of in the workforce. This need for migration is something that Japan is finding difficult as it remains a very racially homogeneous society as compared to other MEDCs.
There are also less obvious problems, such as the break-down in the traditional family unit and an increase in elderly crime as this 2008 article from the Daily Telegraph explained. Needless to say Japan makes a fascinating case study for a country with a high dependency ratio.
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ReplyDeleteThe biggest concern for Japan is its decreasing population. If the birth rate continues to decrease, Japan will have not enough people to pay taxes, and it will lead to not enough money to support its dependent population.
ReplyDeleteI believe the biggest concern for Japan is their low birth rates because there will not be enough people to work in the economically active in the future. This affects the country's output/goods they produce as it will decrease. This also strains the current working population as they have to pay more taxes to support their higher standards of living in Japan. Not only that, men will find it harder to get married as more women are in the workforce and aren't interested in marriage.
ReplyDeleteThe most problematic issue for Japan would be the economically active who aren't interested in marriage nor reproducing because of going up the career ladder or due to virtual reality, influencing unrealistic standards for people, triggering low birth rates and setting an unlikely possibility for the economically active to be replaced in the future. Only the dependent population numbers increase drastically, causing difficulty for the small number of the economically active to pay an incredible amount of tax to support the dependents, when they don't even have enough money to support themselves.
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ReplyDeleteJapan is facing a serious problem with its population - it has an aged society. People in Japan are too busy to have children and family, making it difficult to increase the number of young people in the population. Less young people means less economically active people to work compared to the number of the country's dependant population. This gives a strain to pension and health care services. Japan was also promoting "womenomics" to make larger income by asking the women to work. This however, might cause a later marriage and eventually decreasing birth rates. Declining birth rate means economic growth will be harder to pull off.
ReplyDeleteJapan is going through a massive problem. Japan's population is decreasing every year. This could lead to less people working in the future since birthrate is low in japan. It could also lead to less taxes. If there is less people in the country it will mean less taxes, then if there isnt enough money japan cant spend on govermental uses e.g schools, hospital, apartments, less medical resources, e.x.
ReplyDeleteThis is my second account sir. Im idlan
DeleteHaron
ReplyDeleteI think that the biggest concern for Japan is its falling birth rates which is causing many problems economically and socially. As the number of new births decreases, the dependency ratio will become worse and worse as there are less economically active people and more elderly people who needs more care. This will result in taxes rising to pay for hospitals and health centres. Not only that, a lack of new births means there will be less workers in the future, so companies have to find immigrants who will have a higher salary for skilled jobs. If nothing is done abput the falling birth rates, it will continue to drop as the majority of the people are elderly
Adam
ReplyDeleteI think Japan should be concern about their population as it is decreasing as this coupd be a massive problem, the birth rate of japan is slowing down as it can slow down the economy as less available workers to do work in the country. In the country there is a lot of old people meaning not a lot of babies are produce. People have to pay more taxes to support the elderly and schools,hospitals, medical resources. The ladies also want to work so they concentrate on their studies and dont really have a plan for children when older.
Zan (comment was deleted earlier due to adjusted name issues)
ReplyDeleteThe biggest concern right now for Japan is its economy and how they will handle it. The dependency ratio had risen from 43% to 64% in a year which would cause the tax to rise and put pressure on the working population of the country. This means that the government will also have to put more money into supporting 40% of the population who are elderly members. (This will also increase to 60% in 2036) The future concern for Japan are its birth rates as the population is decreasing in number and there will be less people in the working population to support the dependents in the future. Having an unstable population causes social and economic problems which may lead into anarchy and cause both social and economic tension.
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ReplyDeleteJapan is facing a serious problem with its population. I think Japan should be concern about their population as it is decreasing as this could be a massive problem. It's army will be weekend in the future. There might not be enough skilled workers to develop the country. For the main reason, the GDP might drop. There will be less people to work to stable the GDP. To keep that, people should pay higher tax to the public services such as hospital, schools, medical resources and more.
ReplyDeleteDerrick
ReplyDeleteJapan has its biggest concern of high dependency ratio. Dependency ratio is from people who doesn't work and this cause the japan a really huge problem. This group of people rely on the other for goods and services and with this happening, the government does not have enough taxes which they would have to have a higher taxing rate for the working class. Other problems with high dependency ratio is that Japan does not have enough workers to develop the country and they need migrants from other countries.
Japan has to be concern that their population is decreasing and it is a massive problem. There are a lot of elderly people and not enough young people which means less young people means less economically active people to work and to take care of the elderly. The taxes will rise to pay for hospitals and healthcare’s but the elderly don’t have enough money to pay for themselves. In Japan women are encouraged and asked to work which causes them to get married late and decrease the birth rate.
ReplyDeleteJapan has a high dependancy ratio, meaning there are too many who are old or not working in Japan. Their population in total is generally becoming older. This is a problem because, there are not enough young people to pay for their pensions or pay the tax for schools and hospitals so it increases. It also means that there are not enough young people to care for the elderly. Their GDP may also drop. One of the main causes for the high dependancy ratio is the drop in birth rates. This is due to, women working more so therefore they are not interested in having children early in life and men not interested at all.
ReplyDeleteJapan has a high dependancy ratio, meaning there are too many who are old or not working in Japan. Their population in total is generally becoming older. This is a problem because, there are not enough young people to pay for their pensions or pay the tax for schools and hospitals so it increases. It also means that there are not enough young people to care for the elderly. Their GDP may also drop. One of the main causes for the high dependancy ratio is the drop in birth rates. This is due to, women working more so therefore they are not interested in having children early in life and men not interested at all.
ReplyDelete