Business
Japan faces shrinking labor force
Tokyo | May 10, 2008 12:01:13 AM IST
Japan's twin problems of aging population and declining birth rate threaten to shrink its labor force by a third by 2050, officials said. A government paper warned Tuesday the labor force could plunge to 42.28 million from 66.57 million in 2006 without the labor participation of women and elderly people, Kyodo news service reported. The report said the labor force population would shrink to 55.84 million by 2030. However, the decline could be smaller and the figure could be sustained at about 61.80 million if steps are taken to promote the labor participation of all those who are willing to work. The government wants to boost the employment rate of women ages 25-44 to 69 to 72 percent by 2017 from the current 64.9 percent, and that of people ages 60-64 to 60 to 61 percent from 52.6 percent. In 2006, the nation's total fertility rate, or the average number of children born to a woman between ages 15 and 49, stood at 1.32 -- only slightly better than the record low of 1.26 set the previous year. (UPI)
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