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☆ South Korea Wants More Babies, Just Not in These Places
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Jin Yu Young | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Last year, South Korea had a birthrate of 0.78, according to government figures. There are hundreds of no-kids zones throughout South Korea. The National Library of Korea, for example, prohibits anyone under the age of 16 from entering without special permission. This is the second time Ms. Yong has appeared at the National Assembly with her child. The National Assembly prohibits anyone other than assembly members and authorized personnel from entering, and is itself considered a no-kids zone.

☆ Joy, Loneliness, ‘Rejuvenation:’ Becoming a Mother After 40
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Dani Blum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +12 min

Still, Ms. McQueen longed for a baby. Terry Ratzlaff for The New York TimesEach year, she and her girls celebrate the anniversaries of their embryo transfers, Ms. McQueen said. Together, they look at the balls of cells on the girls’ ultrasound images and talk about the lengths Ms. McQueen went to in order to have them. Then, in 2016, Ms. Allen was diagnosed with a seizure disorder, which forced her to stop working and focus on her health. Caring for Ezra, who is now 5, has come with “overwhelming guilt” over the things she can’t do, Ms. Allen says.

☆ US Declining Population, Worker Shortage Will Cause Economic Crisis Without a Fix
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Gadel Valle | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

That means that unless people start having a lot more kids, the US population could eventually start to shrink — just like China's population has. While the US population has managed to avoid an outright drop, population growth reached an unprecedented low of 0.12% in 2021. One way the US could encourage more immigration is by focusing on temporary visas for specific industries that need workers. And the treatment of workers in the country on temporary visas has been a problem for decades. After all, the US is running out of options, and soon its growing people shortage is going to spell economic disaster.

☆ Opinion: What happens when you knock on a door
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. In Kansas City, Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old White homeowner shot Ralph Yarl, a Black teenager who rang his doorbell. And, “with Trump as the front-runner for the 2024 Republican nomination, Fox has resumed coverage of him which often veers into the free-advertisement category. Neither Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who announced his candidacy last week, nor Marianne Williamson represents a serious threat, Axelrod noted. “The calendar reads 2023,” wrote the Republican former lieutenant governor of Georgia, Geoff Duncan, “but it feels like 2016 all over again.

☆ Opinion | Could Peer Influence Be a Cause of the Global Baby Bust?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Peter Coy | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

I read several papers on peer effects on fertility with Angrist’s caveats in mind. Those factors made the classmates more likely to become pregnant, which in turn influenced the fertility outcomes of the girls being studied. Less-educated women were less likely to have a baby when a colleague of the same education level had one. The negative peer effect for less-educated women “could come from a desire to distinguish oneself from one’s peers,” among other factors, they speculated. The research “provides support for the role of social norms in the fertility choices of reproductive-aged Chinese women,” they wrote.

☆ Chinese people say they don't care that India is taking over as the world's most populous country: 'No one even wants 1st place'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

India's population is set to hit 1.428 billion, while China's drops to 1.425 billion, per the UN. "No one even wants first place for this," one user wrote on the social media platform. India's population boom also marks a shift in China's long-held identity of bursting growth — China has been the world's most populous country for decades. But people on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, say the title is inconsequential, and some are even happy to see it go. "No one even wants first place for this," one user wrote in a top comment as news broke of the UN estimates last week.

☆ Opinion: The world just tilted in India’s favor
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Opinion Frida Ghitis | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review. CNN —Imagine a world in which the world’s most populous country is a democracy. The United Nations Population Fund announced Wednesday that, according to its calculations, India’s 1.4 billion have already surpassed mainland China’s population, and will exceed all of China’s – including Hong Kong’s population – by the middle of this year. In addition to shrinking, China’s population is growing older. Today, after decades of breakneck economic growth, China’s population is much wealthier than India’s.

☆ Support for Japan PM Kishida jumps, but policies still a hard sell, survey shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, April 17 (Reuters) - Support for the government of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida jumped in a survey taken at the weekend, but voters remained dubious about its proposals, including new childcare plans aimed at reversing the declining birthrate. A survey conducted by ANN television on Saturday and Sunday found 45.3% of respondents supported Kishida's government, up 10.2 points from the previous month. But roughly 80% did not think the government's childcare plans would do much to solve the low birthrate problem and some 60% disagreed with funding those plans by increasing the burden on taxpayers. Though Kishida struggled with sliding support late in 2022, more recent polls have showed a slight uptick in his ratings. A survey by the Mainichi daily also conducted at the weekend found support for Kishida at 36%, up from 33% in March.

☆ South Korean millennials and Gen Z are raging against the idea of a 69-hour workweek. They are tired, having fewer babies, and are even working themselves to death.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Nidhi Pandurangi | Reena Koh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The South Korean government wants to increase the workweek to 69 hours. The 69-hour limit relates to a six-day workweek, while the 80.5-hour limit is applicable for a seven-day workweek, according to South Korean outlet Han Kyeo Re. In 2020, 14 delivery couriers in South Korea died of overwork stemming from increased deliveries during the COVID-19 pandemic, Reuters reported, citing a union representative. Notably, the culture of long working hours and death linked to overworking is not specific to South Korea. However, the government is trying to disconnect longer working hours from low birth rates.

☆ Last students graduate: School closures spread in ageing Japan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Issei Kato | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

As Japan’s birthrate plunges faster than expected, school closures have picked up pace especially in rural areas like Ten-ei, a mountainous skiing and hotspring area in Fukushima prefecture, dealing a further blow to regions already struggling with depopulation. Falling births are an Asian regional issue, with the costs of raising children dampening birthrates in neighbouring South Korea and China. But Japan’s situation is especially critical. Between 2002 and 2020, nearly 9,000 shut their doors forever, making it hard for remote areas to lure in new and younger residents. “I’m worried that people won’t consider this area as a place to relocate to start a family if there is no junior high school,” said Eita's mother Masumi, also a Yumoto graduate.

Privately-owned Miki House, like other Japanese companies, is contending with a shrinking workforce, with an estimated shortage of 3.41 million workers by 2030, according to labour policy research group Recruit Works Institute. When Kimura founded Miki House in 1971, Japan had about 2.6 million births a year and was undergoing a rapid economic expansion that prompted parents to splurge on fashionable goods for their youngsters. PRODUCTION SHIFTSJapan's Fast Retailing (9983.T), the nation's biggest clothing seller and owner of bargain brand Uniqlo, manufactures almost all of its products overseas. At Miki House, about 70% of products are still made domestically, but some items, such as children's shoes, cannot be made locally at scale and are manufactured in Vietnam. Demand is shifting too, with about 60% of sales coming from overseas, where Miki House operates 95 stores in 16 countries and regions.

☆ Paternity leave: In Japan, it's four weeks, but men are too afraid to take it
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Japanese men are entitled to four weeks of flexible paternity leave, on up to 80% of their salary, under a bill passed by the Japanese parliament in 2021. While it is illegal to discriminate against workers who take maternity and paternity leave in Japan, Iwahashi said workers on fixed-term contracts were particularly vulnerable. And anyway, “A little tweak on paternity leave won’t significantly change a declining birth rate,” he added. He also unveiled a plan aimed at boosting the uptake of paternity leave by encouraging firms to disclose their performance. But he saw a silver lining in encouraging paternity leave.

☆ China's so desperate to boost its birth rates, it's even cracking down on customary betrothal gifts for brides to help people get married more easily
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

China's cracking down on the custom of the "bride price" to facilitate marriages and boost birth rates. These betrothal gifts include cash, jewelry, cars, and even real estate. A delegate from the state-backed All-China Women's Federation proposed that authorities look into measures to curb expensive betrothal gifts, the women's rights organization said in a Wednesday statement. Still, nearly three-quarters of marriages involve the custom of betrothal gifts, according to a 2020 survey of 1,846 China residents by Tencent News. This is because betrothal gifts — which are typically given after negotiations between the two families — can include cash, jewelry, cars, and even real estate, according to the Tencent News survey.

☆ Japan's lower house of parliament passes record budget
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The lower house of Japan's parliament passed on Tuesday a record 114.4 trillion yen ($839.3 billion) budget for the next fiscal year that begins in April, a ruling party lawmaker said, a move that would further strain the industrial world's heaviest debt burden. The fiscal 2023 budget featured record military and welfare spending to cope with threats from mighty China and North Korea, and welfare spending for catering to a fast-ageing population. The budget passage in the powerful lower chamber makes it almost certain of its approval by the upper house by the current fiscal year end in March. Kishida's controversial plan to double Japan's defence spending to 2% of gross domestic product by 2027 contributed to a record 6.8 trillion yen increase in spending. ($1 = 136.3000 yen)Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Tom Hogue & Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Japan's leader prioritizes arms buildup, reversing low birthrate
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

Kishida’s government in December adopted key security and defense reforms, including a counterstrike capability that breaks from the country’s exclusively self-defense-only postwar principle. Japan says the current deployment of missile interceptors is insufficient to defend it from rapid weapons advancement in China and North Korea. Kishida said it’s a “drastic turnaround” of Japan’s security policy, but still remains within the limitations of its pacifist constitution and international law. This month, Kishida took a five-nation tour, including Washington, to explain Japan’s new defense plan and further develop defense ties with its ally the United States. Japan is the world’s third-biggest economy but living costs are high and wage increases have been slow.

☆ Honda is testing vehicles that could see and communicate in a way that's similar to humans
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Honda is testing a range of "micro-mobility" vehicles that will be able to cooperate with humans. The concept vehicles could help people who don't own cars move around cities. The function would allow them to quickly recognize passable areas, "in the same way that people recognize such areas by seeing things with their own eyes," per the press release. The second is The WaPOCHI, an electric robot designed to follow users around like a pet, per the press release. It'll track users using AI and cameras and is designed to support users in walking, by performing tasks like carrying their bags or other items.

Giorgia Meloni, a nationalist accused by political rivals and experts of spreading white supremacist ideas, was on Monday set to become Italy's first far-right leader since World War II. The results confirm her party’s rise from a radical fringe group to the driving force in right-wing Italian politics. Meloni, who would be Italy's first female leader, and the Brothers of Italy advocate naval blockades to stop unauthorized migration from Africa. Giorgia Meloni, leader of the Brothers of Italy, in Rome on Monday. Brothers of Italy leader Giorgia Meloni casts her vote at a polling station in Rome on Sunday.

☆ A far-right nationalist looks likely to become Italy’s first female prime minister
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-25 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Patrick-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Patrick Smith | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +12 min

Meloni leads the Brothers of Italy Party (Fratelli d’Italia, or FdI), a populist party with roots in Italy’s post-war fascist movement. From left, The League's Matteo Salvini, Forza Italia's Silvio Berlusconi, and Brothers of Italy's Giorgia Meloni attend the final rally of the center-right coalition in Rome on Thursday. Meloni’s office and the Brothers of Italy Party did not answer requests for comment by NBC News. Clashes between protesters and police close to a rally held by election frontrunner Giorgia Meloni on Tuesday in Palermo, Sicily. And now it’s happening with Giorgia Meloni,” he said.

In a survey from Insider and Morning Consult, the majority of partnered millennials said money added stress to their relationships. While slightly more millennials with a financial imbalance — that is, with very different incomes — reported stress, most millennials with similar incomes did as well. But, who's making more is just another factor adding financial stress to millennials' lives. According to data from the same survey, Gen Xers also report quite a bit of money stress in their relationships, with about 56% overall reporting money stress. Millennials are putting off life events as a result of their money stressMoney might be adding stress to millennials' relationships ... but it's also adding stress to just about everything else.

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