1.1 - Population Decline Case Study: Japan (Paper 1)

Question 1

Explain the causes of population decline in Japan (3)

Answer 1

• The fertility rate in Japan is 1.36 births per woman. This is well below the fertility replacement age of 2.1 per woman. This is because the the average age that a women gives birth is 29.5 years. (1)
• The birth rate in Japan is 7.1 per 1000 people. This is low because The expense of raising children is high because of high childcare costs and parents can’t afford to buy or rent homes. Due to this 70% of unmarried people live with their parents. (1)
• Between 1982 and 2020, life expectancy has increased from 77 years to 84.36 years. This means the increased death rate is not due to poor standards of living but because the population is ageing. (1)

Question 2

Explain the problems of population decline in Japan (3)

Answer 2

• The ageing population puts more pressure on health services. There is predicted to be a shortage of 380,000 workers for elderly care by 2025. Because of this, taxes will have to be increased to pay for healthcare. (1)
• Due to shortage of students in schools, over 400 schools in Japan close each year. This is because there are a lack of students to educate and overall there is low demand for education, especially in rural areas. (1)
• By 2060, 36% of the population in Japan would be over the age of 65. This would put immense pressure on the youth population for them to support the elderly because there is a significantly small amount of people that make up the youth population. (1)

Question 3

Explain the solutions for population decline in Japan: (3)

Answer 3

• Instead of humans working in elderly nursing homes, robots are being implemented in the Shin-tomi nursing home in Tokyo in an attempt to ease off the pressure on the youth population (1)
• Immigration laws were revised in 2018 to attract foreign workers to help with worker shortages. The aim is to attract over 340,000. This will ease the burden on the current workforce as there are a smaller amount of them. (1)
• The Angel Plan was established in 1994 and is a 5 year plan to reduce population decline. It encourages people to have children because they will offer better childcare services and healthcare as well as better housing. This will encourage the population to have babies and therefore reduces population decline (1)