The Tokyo metropolitan government plans to provide families in the capital with a monthly allowance of around 5,000 yen ($38) per child aged through 18 regardless of household income levels, as part of efforts to address the rapidly falling birthrate in Japan.
With official estimates set to show that annual births in the country fell below 800,000 for the first time last year, Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike has said her government needs to make its own responses and that the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has lacked countermeasures that have an immediate effect.
"It is a shocking situation that shakes the very foundations of society," Koike said in her New Year address at the metropolitan government office Wednesday in reference to the projected record low births. "We can afford no further delay. Tokyo will take the lead in creating specific measures."
The metropolitan government is considering securing the necessary funds for the planned allowance under its budget for fiscal 2023 starting in April. Around 1.93 million children aged 18 or younger lived in Tokyo as of January 2022.
"Supporting the growth of children is an investment in the future," Koike told reporters later Wednesday, rejecting criticism that the allowance is simply aimed at winning support for her government.
She stressed the need for Tokyo to take the initiative in tackling the issue by citing data that educational expenses spent by households in the capital are higher than the national average.
The Japanese government has long struggled with the nation's aging population and declining birthrates.
Kishida told a press conference Wednesday that his administration will introduce unprecedented measures countering the birth decline, and expand help for childrearing including stronger financial support.
Currently, a monthly allowance of 10,000 yen or 15,000 yen is given to households with an income below a certain level until a child graduates from junior high school.
There have been calls for the benefit to cover high school students and to be increased for families with multiple children.
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