Problem Solved!

[CharlieGiteau]

http://news.yahoo.com/japans-population ... -news.html

If we could only get a certain part of our population to feel the same way as these Japanese women...

[ThatsRight]

A shrinking population is a bad thing. If you aren't growing, you're dying.

This shift is most likely attributed to the "lost decade" which is now the lost 2+ decades in Japan. I'd expect to see something very similar happen to the United States because we have repeated their mistakes. We will have our own lost decade, and the smart among us will realize that it's too expensive to have multiple kids, or will put off kids longer. Not to mention, the working generation will be shackled to help out their parents and what not in old age. It's basically a reduction in living standards for all.

It's not a "good" thing.

[CharlieGiteau]

The biggest difference between our nation and Japan is this:

"Young workers have increasingly become reluctant to start families, because of financial concerns. Women are putting off marriage altogether, worried it could tie down their careers."

I just wish people would take their own finances into consideration prior to popping out kid after kid. Establish yourself in a solid career, get your shit in order, then have the family you want. Too many times this is done backwards and the situation is all the next generation knows, and it continues to grow exponentially.

Edit: "There is one number that continues to go up: Japan's life expectancy. Already the highest in the world, researchers estimate life expectancy for Japanese women will increase from 86 to 91 over the next half century. The number is expected to rise from 79 to 84, for men."

Life expectancy increasing coupled with decreasing population is the huge concern.

[ThatsRight]

It's not the "Japanese woman feeling a certain way". This is a forced reality.

It has already been under way in the United States. People enter the work force later because now college is a basic ticket to entry. People live at home with their parents longer. They start out in debt before even considering a mortgage. Decent career paying jobs are harder to find. So it's harder to even get yourself started, let alone start a family at age 20 with cars, a home, and the rest of it (all these expenditures put off strains the economy and makes the spiral worse). Parents live longer and have blown their nest eggs to help their kids. The kids will be forced to support their parents who will be living longer....which will leave them less money to help their own kids or themselves...downard spiral.

The U.s, and pretty much all of Europe is going to be hit with this wave in the coming decades. An "aging" population is a disaster for the economy as a whole. Japan is just the canary in the coalmine.

[CharlieGiteau]

It's not the "Japanese woman feeling a certain way". This is a forced reality.

Yeah, but people do have a choice to make. The article didn't say all Japanese women, and that's why I specifically stated that "these Japanese women". I'm sure there are Japanese people who do things backwards as well, but I was citing the group described in this article. Either way there's no way to reach a happy median.

Edit: Perhaps I need to compare the strain on the Social Security systems of both nations. Percentage wise they could already be very similar (and from what the article said, Japan's is in as much trouble as ours), therefore making my opinion moot.

My original post was really directed at those who realize: "You mean my welfare check gets bigger the more kids I have?!". Oh well.

[james-]

Go watch the beginning of "Idiocracy"

This is JUST what the world needed!