Japan's Birth Rate Reaches Record Low, Deepening Demographic Woes.

Japan's birth rate has hit a record low for the seventh consecutive year, with the fertility rate at 1.2565, far below the rate of 2.07 needed to maintain a stable population. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has made arresting the country's sliding birth rate a top priority and plans to earmark spending of 3.5 trillion yen ($25 billion) a year on child care and other measures to support parents. The pandemic has exacerbated Japan's demographic challenges, with fewer marriages and COVID-19 partly responsible for more deaths.