Tokyo is one of the world’s most densely populated cities, while Japan’s rural areas suffer from an aging population and declining birth rates.
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According to multiple media reports, the Japanese government will give families up to 1 million yen ($7,670) per child in the event that they resolve to move out of Tokyo.
The federal government has already offered 300,000 yen per child to families moving to other parts of the country.
The move comes as authorities attempt to disperse dense populations in Japan’s metropolitan areas, improve declining birth rates, and diversify aging populations in additional rural areas.
According to the Bureau of Statistics of Japan, in 2021, 28.9% of Japan’s total population was 65 or older, a national record. In the identical 12 months, there were 14.78 million children aged 0–14, representing 11.8% of the entire population, the bottom level in Japanese history.
People living in 23 regions in Tokyo and native commuter hotspots will likely be eligible for relocation money, according to press release from the Kyodo news agency. The financial support is predicted to apply in fiscal 12 months 2023.
Recipients of the cash must live in the brand new region for at the very least five years through the period of employment, and anyone violating these rules will likely be asked for a refund.
Japan’s cabinet didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the reported measure when contacted by CNBC.
Support is provided to children under the age of 18 or people who find themselves over 18 but still within the last 12 months of secondary school.
Naohiko Baba of Goldman Sachs said last 12 months that more needs to be done to preserve and expand Japan’s shrinking workforce.
Japanese corporations “need to offer much higher wages to attract individuals with special skills and take a look at to improve competitiveness against foreign competitors, especially in Asian countries,” Baba told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” in April 2022.
The support program began in 2019, and in 2021, 2,381 people moved out of metropolitan Tokyo and picked up funds, as reported by Kyodo.