According to the Nikkei business newspaper, Japan is offering families $7,500 per child to leave Tokyo and satisfy one of three requirements.
In an effort to stop the population decline in the regions, the Japanese government is offering families who relocate outside of greater Tokyo with 1 million yen ($7,500) per child.
According to Japanese media sources, the incentive will be implemented in April as part of a formal initiative to revitalise declining towns and villages. It is a significant increase over the previous relocation fee of 300,000 yen.
Policymakers believe more should be done to encourage people to start new lives in “unfashionable” parts of the country that have been hit by ageing, shrinking populations, and the migration of younger people to Tokyo, Osaka, and other major cities, even though Tokyo’s population fell for the first time last year, a trend partially attributed to the coronavirus pandemic.
Families residing in the 23 “core” wards of Tokyo, other parts of the metropolitan, and the neighbouring commuter-belt prefectures of Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa will be eligible for the payment, which is an addition to the up to 3 million yen in financial assistance now available.
Families must leave the greater Tokyo area to qualify for the benefits, though some may qualify if they move to hilly regions inside the city, according to authorities quoted by the Kyodo news agency.
Approximately 1,300 towns, or 80% of the total, have signed up for the programme in an effort to take advantage of a change in public attitudes regarding quality of life that intensified during the pandemic as more workers learned the advantages of working remotely.
However, families looking to get a quick paycheck before heading back to the capital will be dissatisfied. One household member must be employed or have plans to start a new business, and they must stay in their new houses for at least five years. The money must be returned if the tenant vacates the property before five years have passed.
The generous incentives are intended to encourage families with children up to the age of 18 to revitalise areas and relieve demand on public services and space in greater Tokyo, the largest metropolis in the world with a population of about 35 million.
According to the Nikkei business newspaper, relocating families in principle receive 1 million to 3 million yen per household if they meet one of three requirements: employment at a small or midsize company in the location they move to; continuing in their old jobs via remote working; or starting a business in their new home. A family with two children may be eligible for up to 5 million yen after the higher payments are taken into account.
According to Kyodo, the local municipalities would contribute half of the funding and the federal government will provide the other half.
Since the program’s debut three years ago, 1,184 families received support, compared to 71 in 2019 and 290 in 2020, the Nikkei reported. This is despite the fact that teleworking became increasingly prevalent in that year.
By 2027, the government hopes that 10,000 people will have relocated from Tokyo to rural areas.
Japan’s hollowed-out towns and villages have promoted the benefits of country living, easy access to childcare that is in high demand, and, in the instance of Otari village in Nagano prefecture, the availability of eligible men in order to draw in new residents.
The most recent initiative to revitalise the areas comes with yet another decline in Japan’s population.
According to government data, the population of the third-largest economy in the world decreased by a record-breaking 644,000 in 2020–21. From its present 125 million to a projected 88 million in 2065, it is predicted to shrink rapidly, a 30% drop in 45 years.
The birthrate is chronically low at 1.3 children, much below the 2.1 needed to maintain the current population size, even as the number of people over 65 continues to rise.
The total number of births in 2021 was 811,604, which was the lowest since records began to be kept in 1899. In comparison, there are currently over 90,500 centenarians, up from just 153 in 1963.
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