A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development shows that Japan has the highest rate of women who bear no children among OECD members.
The report released on Thursday says that among women born in 1975, 28.3 percent in Japan are “permanently childless.” Portugal had the lowest rate at 8.9 percent, followed by the United States at 10.3 percent.
The total fertility rate among 38 OECD member countries stood at an average of 1.51 in 2022. Japan’s rate was 1.26. The figure represents the number of children a woman bears in her lifetime.
The report says young people’s struggles to become financially independent is one of the factors that lead to their choice of not having a child.
The OECD stresses the importance of comprehensive family support to help improve fertility rates.