Recent Changes in Policy Directions for Low Fertility in Japan

Abstract

Japan has been active in the past several years in working to protect the rights and welfare of children. These efforts culminated in the legislation of the Basic Act on the Rights of the Child, whose enactment laid the legal basis for implementing in an integrated way those various child policy programs that until then had been delivered separately. In the process, the Japanese government established the Children and Family Agency, tasked with overall control of the implementation of policies on children, including those aimed at helping to raise the birthrate. The Japanese government has asserted that it should, over the six to seven years to 2030, keeping in mind that these years could be the last chance period to tackle the low-fertility situation, press on with policy measures in ways different from the past. This article examines the Basic Act on the Rights of the Child, the role of the Children and Family Agency, and the Japanese government’s policies on low fertility.