>People aged 65 and older will make up nearly 40 percent of the population of Japan 50 years from now. Even more troubling, the country’s population is expected to shrink by 30 percent, with birth rates showing little signs of improvement.
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. On average, Japanese women have 1.4 children (that number is 1.9 for U.S. women, according to the CDC).
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.