Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida yesterday was to unveil a package of measures aimed at reversing the nation’s dwindling birthrate, by increasing payouts to families with children.
The announcement of his flagship policy came amid speculation that Kishida would dissolve parliament this week and call a snap election, a move that could heighten calls from within his ruling party for big spending.
Although an election for parliament’s powerful lower house is not due until late 2025, Kishida, who swept to power in October 2021, is keen to boost his grip on power in the party ahead of a leadership race in September, analysts say.
Photo: Reuters
MORE FUNDING
The package, which Kishida was to explain at a news conference, might help his party appeal to the public with promises of payouts.
Kishida has said he hopes to double childcare spending, now about ￥4.7 trillion (US$33.7 billion), by the early 2030s.
Under the plan, the Japanese government is likely to earmark about ￥3.5 trillion annually for the next three years for childcare allowances and support for those taking childcare leave.
The government is also to urge companies to allow employees to choose more flexible working styles, such as taking three days off a week, according to a draft of the package.
However, analysts doubt whether the package would do much to stem a chronic decline in the birthrate and Japan’s rapidly aging population.
“While the steps could help families with children, the real problem that must be dealt with is how to support low-income households unable to get married,” Daiwa Securities chief economist Toru Suehiro said.
NO TAX INCREASE
There was also uncertainty on how the government would fund the measures, with Kishida ruling out the chance of a near-term tax increase, stoking fears of a worsening of Japan’s already tattered finances.
The government would work out the details of securing stable sources of funding by the end of the year, officials have said.
Japan’s birthrate has been on a steady decline despite a series of government initiatives to reverse the trend, dropping to a record low of 1.26 last year from 1.57 in 1990, government data showed.
‘UNUSUAL EVENT’: The Australian defense minister said that the Chinese navy task group was entitled to be where it was, but Australia would be watching it closely The Australian and New Zealand militaries were monitoring three Chinese warships moving unusually far south along Australia’s east coast on an unknown mission, officials said yesterday. The Australian government a week ago said that the warships had traveled through Southeast Asia and the Coral Sea, and were approaching northeast Australia. Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles yesterday said that the Chinese ships — the Hengyang naval frigate, the Zunyi cruiser and the Weishanhu replenishment vessel — were “off the east coast of Australia.” Defense officials did not respond to a request for comment on a Financial Times report that the task group from
DEFENSE UPHEAVAL: Trump was also to remove the first woman to lead a military service, as well as the judge advocates general for the army, navy and air force US President Donald Trump on Friday fired the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, and pushed out five other admirals and generals in an unprecedented shake-up of US military leadership. Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social that he would nominate former lieutenant general Dan “Razin” Caine to succeed Brown, breaking with tradition by pulling someone out of retirement for the first time to become the top military officer. The president would also replace the head of the US Navy, a position held by Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the first woman to lead a military service,
Four decades after they were forced apart, US-raised Adamary Garcia and her birth mother on Saturday fell into each other’s arms at the airport in Santiago, Chile. Without speaking, they embraced tearfully: A rare reunification for one the thousands of Chileans taken from their mothers as babies and given up for adoption abroad. “The worst is over,” Edita Bizama, 64, said as she beheld her daughter for the first time since her birth 41 years ago. Garcia had flown to Santiago with four other women born in Chile and adopted in the US. Reports have estimated there were 20,000 such cases from 1950 to
CONFIDENT ON DEAL: ‘Ukraine wants a seat at the table, but wouldn’t the people of Ukraine have a say? It’s been a long time since an election, the US president said US President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and added that he was more confident of a deal to end the war after US-Russia talks. Trump increased pressure on Zelenskiy to hold elections and chided him for complaining about being frozen out of talks in Saudi Arabia. The US president also suggested that he could meet Russian President Vladimir Putin before the end of the month as Washington overhauls its stance toward Russia. “I’m very disappointed, I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat,” Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida when asked about the Ukrainian
RSS