The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare in Japan is hoping that the promise of some more money in the bank would encourage more people to add a kid to their family. Japan has been attempting to boost its low and decreasing birth rate for some time.
A 420,000 yen Childbirth and Childcare Lump-Sum Grant is now given to new parents in Japan following the birth of their child. Katsunobu Kato, the minister of health, labour, and welfare, wants to increase that amount to 500,000 yen. He met with the prime minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida, last week to discuss the proposal, which is anticipated to be approved and implemented for the 2023 fiscal year, which begins in the spring, as reported by Japan Today.
Although a grant amount increase of this scale is unlikely to deter anyone from wanting children, it could not be a very strong incentive either. Despite the name “Childbirth and Childcare Lump-Sum Grant,” there is very little, if any, of it left over after the “Childbirth” portion. Child birth fees must be covered out of pocket even if the award is supported by Japan’s public medical insurance system; according to Mainichi Shimbun, the national average for delivery costs is around 473,000 yen.
Thus, even if the grant were increased, parents would still only have, on average, 30,000 yen left over when they returned home from the hospital, which is less than the amount Asahi Breweries is giving its employees to spend on holiday meals. That won’t go very far toward the overall costs of raising a child to self-sufficient adulthood, and it’s unlikely that an extra 80,000 yen would push anyone over their “have a baby or not” threshold.
All things considered, new parents would be grateful for a little additional money as their family grows, and the 80,000 yen increase would be the highest ever for the Childbirth and Childcare Lump-Sum Grant and its first since 2009.
