What does "population issues" mean to you?
What kinds of situations come to mind when you see or hear "population issues"?
What do you want to know about "population issues"? Why?
人口に関する問題- どのように定義されているのでしょうか?
少子化とは出生率が下がり、子どもの数が減少することです。15~49歳までの女性が出産した子どもの数を合計し、それを「合計特殊出生率」と定義しています。そして「合計特殊出生率」が人口を維持するのに必要な水準をある程度の期間下回っている状況を「少子化」と定義しています。(ベネッセ, 日付なし, 少子高齢化が進行している要因|社会的影響や国の対策もあわせて紹介)
高齢化社会が65歳以上の高齢者の割合が「人口の7%」を超えた社会を指すのに対して、65歳以上の高齢者の割合が「人口の14%」を超えた社会を「高齢社会」と呼びます。14%という数字は、高齢化社会の基準である高齢者割合7%を2倍にしたものです。日本では、1995年の時点に高齢化率14.6%を超え、高齢社会に突入しています。
高齢社会が進行し、65歳以上の高齢者の割合が「人口の21%」を超えた社会を「超高齢社会」と呼びます。人口の21%とは、高齢化社会の基準である高齢者割合7%を3倍にした数字となります。日本では、2010年には高齢化率23%を超え、超高齢社会を迎えました。(HITOWAホールディングス, 日付なし, 高齢化社会・高齢社会・超高齢社会の定義とは?問題点や対策について解説)
「人口格差」は、都市に人口が集中し過密化の問題を引き起こす一方、農山漁村では人口流出による過疎化の問題を引き起こす格差問題であり、「所得格差」は、その地に定住していく上で不可欠な生活の糧ともいえる所得水準の差が地域間で拡大する格差問題である。(三菱UFJリサーチ&コンサルティング, 2022/10, 人口の地域格差がもたらす生活環境への影響とその対応方策)
1. The Difference Between Fertility Rates and Birth Rates:
"Though both measures relate to population growth, a country’s birth rate and fertility rate are noticeably different:
Birth Rate: The total number of births in a year per 1,000 individuals.
Fertility Rate: The total number of births in a year per 1,000 women of reproductive age in a population.
As such, the fertility rate is a more specific measure… Not including immigration, a given area needs an overall total fertility rate of 2.1 to keep a stable population." (World Economic Forum, 17 June 2022, What does the global decline of the fertility rate look like?)
2. Demographic crisis: “Experts point to several factors behind the low birth rate. The country’s high cost of living, limited space and lack of child care support in cities make it difficult to raise children, meaning fewer couples are having kids. Urban couples are also often far from extended family who could help provide support.
Attitudes toward marriage and starting families have also shifted in recent years, with more couples putting off both during the pandemic.” (CNN, 24 January 2023, It’s ‘now or never’ to reverse Japan’s population crisis, prime minister says)
3. Rural movement initiative: “... only 8% of the country’s population lives in rural areas. Japan also has one of the oldest populations in the world, with almost 30% of its residents aged 65 years or older. And many of the older citizens remain in rural areas, which led the country to establish the Local Revitalization Cooperator (LRC) initiative in an effort to attract younger people to these areas.
Known as chiiki okoshi kyouryoukutai, the LRC promises three years of housing and a salary to entice younger people to not only move to the countryside, but also contribute to local revitalization using their specific skills and interests.” (Hiroshima University, 5 June 2024, What lessons can be learned from Japan’s rural movement initiative, 15 years on?
Japan: Births in Japan hit record low (NHK, 27 February 2025)
日本:「誰にも気づかれずに、孤独死」限界集落の「限界」に直面する山村(朝日新聞, 2025/03/09)
日本:私大、定員割れ今春6割に拡大 少子化進み過去最高、再編加速も(共同通信, 2024/09/13)
Japan: 1 in 5 will be 75 or older in every prefecture except Tokyo in 2050 (Asahi Shimbun, 22 December 2023)
Japan: Town more than doubles birthrate by helping out young families (Asahi Shimbun, 12 October 2022)
China: The men who are single and the women who don't want kids (BBC, 25 May 2021)
Germany: Over 1 in 4 people have 'migrant background' (Deutsche Welle, 12 April 2022)
Japan: Japan town mulls hiring foreigners as regular staff from FY 2025 (The Mainichi, 8 September 2023)
Population (United Nations, no date)
Growing or shrinking? What the latest trends tell us about the world’s population (United Nations UN News, 24 July 2024)
Japan’s population crisis was years in the making – and relief may be decades away (CNN, 29 February 2024)
Rights and choices are key (United Nations Population Fund, no date)
Fertility rate: 'Jaw-dropping' global crash in children being born (BBC, 15 July 2020)
How Japan tries to solve its population problems [Video 11: 53] (DW News, 13 January 2023)
6 population trends [Video 1:00] (United Nations Population Fund, 29 December 2022)
What declining birth rates mean for the world [Video 5: 39] (BBC, 3 March 2024)
Japan’s population crisis fuelled by ‘indifference and ignorance’ of male lawmakers [Video 3:39] (South China Morning Post, 4 August 2022)
What China's Shrinking Population Means For The Global Economy [Video 2:43] (CNBC, 4 March 2023)
Schools close across rural Japan as birth rate plummets [Video 3: 39] (South China Morning Post, 31 March 2023)
Examples of local action in Japanese society
限界集落に「世界一美しいコンビニ」、詰めかける観光客…住民「元気が戻った」(読売新聞, 2022/01/12)
「人口増加日本一」は狙い通り…政府よりずっと「異次元」な明石市の少子化対策に日本の未来がある(PRESIDENT Online, 2023/09/24)
Japan's village with the oldest population is wooing young residents to survive (NPR, 25 January 2024)
Examples of local action in other societies
Austria: How Does Contemporary Art Deal with Aging? (Widewalls, 18 November 2017)
Greenland: Greenland women seek urgent compensation for forced contraception (Euronews, 5 March 2024)
Spain: Fighting Depopulation And Revitalising Villages In Rural Spain (EuroWeekly, 24 September 2023)