BUS: declining birth rate/aging society

I. Issue and Reason

We have heard that Japan will become a society where one young person will have to support four old people in the future. Additionally, we recently saw goods such as mobile phones marketed for elderly people.

II. Causes

1) One cause is the rise in women’s educational backgrounds. Therefore, women’s salaries have become higher than before so now it is hard for men feed their family just on one salary.

2) Related to the first reason, many people are getting married later in life, staying single, or having dual income families.

3) Many women don’t want to quit their jobs to get married. Furthermore, some women don’t want to have any children.

III. Solutions

1) The government should provide support for families which have more than two children.

2) If people are over forty and don’t have any children, they should have to pay extra taxes.

3) Companies should have nurseries so women can leave their children there while they are working.