Japan PM orders about $26 bln to be set aside for childcare
Tokyo, May 31 (BNA): Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed his government on Wednesday to set aside around 3.5 trillion yen ($26 billion) in the annual budget for child care, Economy Minister Shigeyuki Goto said.
Kishida has vowed to double childcare spending over the next three years and the government has previously estimated that it needed to raise around 3 trillion yen in funds per year to help reverse the country's dwindling birth rate, Reuters reported.
Births plunged to a record low in 2023, official estimates show, dropping below 800,000 for the first time - a watershed moment that came eight years earlier than Japan had expected.
