Japan has been struggling to cope with a combination of anaemic economic growth and a shrinking population for over 30 years. 2025 marks the tipping point when the rising costs outstrip the country's ...

Roland Kelts: I do. I think it's a canary in a coal mine. It doesn't help Japan's marriage rates—and therefore birth rates—that a growing number of businesses now cater to the rise of parties ...

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or ...

Languages: English. Japan is poised to significantly overhaul its approach to childbirth costs as part of a sweeping initiative to tackle its declining birth rate. A government panel has ...

Japan lags far behind other big economies with an index for its real average annual wages showing almost no growth between 1995 and 2021, according to IMF data. That compares with growth rates of ...

TOKYO – Japan’s Health Ministry is set to eliminate out-of-pocket payments associated with child delivery, possibly from April 2026, to address the country’s declining birth rate.

Japan is likely to cover parents’ hospital fees for childbirth from April 2026 as the country struggles to reverse its falling birth rate. A panel of experts tasked with examining ways to ease ...

Japan’s labor market remained largely tight in March, supporting momentum for wage hikes, while uncertainties over the global trade war continue to darken the outlook. The jobless rate ticked up ...

Japan is likely to cover parents’ hospital fees for childbirth from April 2026 as the country struggles to reverse its falling birth rate. A panel of experts tasked with examining ways to ease ...

"The continuing slide in the birth rate clearly indicates our current policy isn't working at all." Ninety-two percent of Japan's population lives in urban areas, a way of living that Okada sees ...

In Japan, interest rates are set by the Bank of Japan's Policy ... to stay near the 2% target through fiscal 2027, supported by wage growth and a tight labor market, U.S. tariffs could lower ...