Global Courant 2023-05-31 12:35:00
TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday instructed his government to set aside about 3.5 trillion yen ($34 billion) for childcare, Economy Minister Shigeyuki Goto said.
That is slightly more than previously estimated.
Kishida has vowed to double childcare spending over the next three years in a bid to reverse the country’s declining birth rate.
The government had estimated it would need about 3 trillion yen a year to cover the expansion of childcare allowance and other related benefits.
Mr Kishida revealed the increased size of spending at a meeting of ministers, including Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki, Mr Goto said. The Minister of Economic Affairs also attended the meeting.
“Prime Minister Kishida told us to consider expanding child care measures by about 3.5 trillion yen while preparing the annual budget,” Goto told reporters.
The measures are designed to support higher education, prevent child abuse in poverty and ensure medical care for disabled children, Mr Goto quoted Mr Kishida as saying during the meeting.
There was no discussion about the sources of funding, he added.
Japan, the most indebted government in the industrial world and a national debt more than double the size of its economy, is struggling to find funding sources to support Mr Kishida’s child care spending plan.
Mr. Kishida has ruled out sales tax increases as an option.
His administration, meanwhile, is trying to tap increased premiums for public medical care and cut other Social Security spending to fund more childcare spending.
It is also considering introducing a new type of bond to raise money for education funds, the Kyodo news agency reported.
According to official estimates, the number of births in Japan will fall to an all-time low in 2022.
They fell below 800,000 for the first time – a turning point that came eight years earlier than the government had expected. REUTERS
