The big picture: Japan's birthrate has hit a record low for the eighth consecutive year in 2023, with just 758,631 births recorded. Marriages also saw a historic low, with 489,281 unions, highlighting a deepening demographic crisis. Why it matters: Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi has declared the situation a critical demographic challenge.
Doesn’t capitalism need kids to have more workers and consumers?
Yes,
Doesn’t stop capitalists from being greedy stupid gits
Yes, but it’s irrelevant, they can always either reduce jobs or import people. Also it’s not as if any capitalist and especially capitalist class as a whole ever thought on 20+ years forward, they think about next quarter.
Well, I don’t think this is what capitalist wants, but it’s more about Japanese society issue influenced by ads and social issues. Capitalism can make this issue worse as they don’t really care about people health, they just want positive numbers.
Yes this is what i said, when lack of workers will prove to be an serious issue which capitalist economy would be unable to resolve by themselves, the state will come in to solve that, just as for example Polish state answered the need of cheap workforce around 2015 by reducing the requirements and regultions for Ukrainians, who were coincidentally searching jobs in the millions after maidan government strangled them with shock therapy. Which by the way didn’t stopped the very same Polish government from denying to accept few thousands Syrians.
Capitalism also needs a functioning environment to continue…