In Japan, the rapid demographic shift to a smaller working-age population compared to a growing elderly population is fueled by a declining birth rate. Having an average of 1.39 babies per woman just can't keep those numbers balanced (it takes an average of 2.1 babies per woman to maintain stable population).
A significant cause of the low birth rate may be that about one million young men have withdrawn from all society, contributing to fewer marriages and the resulting fewer children. The syndrome in Japan is called hikikomori. A man tells his personal story here in a BBC interview.
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