Japan has its lowest number of children ever. Figures released the day before the country's Children's Day holiday on May the 5th show that the number of children fell by 160,000 from last year. It is the 33rd year in a row for the birth rate to drop. Japan has 13 million fewer children than in 1950. Of 30 countries with a population of over 40 million, Japan has the smallest percentage of kids – just 12.8 per cent. In the USA, this figure is 19.5 per cent.

The number of children is going down, but the number of old people is increasing. The over-65s make up a record 25.6 per cent of the Japanese population. This will continue for many decades. The over-65s could be 40 per cent of the population in 2060. This will be hard for young people. They will pay higher taxes to support the over-65s. There will not be enough young people to work. Japan has tried to get people to have more babies, but nothing works.