6 ms·

It's not just women, but men also opt out of marriage. Because we have no reason for marriage anymore. The writer, as usual, don't mention the elephant in the r

by ezoe 7y ago

It's not just women, but men also opt out of marriage. Because we have no reason for marriage anymore. The writer, as usual, don't mention the elephant in the room. It must be intentional because she probably want to write about women's right and nothing else. The reason is nothing but for the lack of money. We, the average Japanese, cannot afford to have a child anymore. We just barely afford to have a life for themselves. Why did we have to have a marriage? Because of the children. Because in the Japanese society, the children is assumed that they have a parent consists of one male and one female in marriage relationship. Since we cannot afford to have a child, there is no reason to marriage anymore. What other functions the marriage offer? Asset management and inheritance? No. We can't afford to have a reserve or real estate. There is no use for that. Bonding the families? No, as rural areas are more and more abandoned and everybody concentrate toward a few big cities, there is no traditional bonding of the families in one area. Sex? Well, Not anymore. Japanese marriage system assume that the marriage is a exclusive sex relationship between single male and single female. It support very narrow traditional sexuality and excluding today's most of the sexuality. The marriage system is now outdated. Ironically, the traditional marriage system is one of the cause of birth decline. It's an obstacle. Some people still want to have a child driven by natural instinct, but the current Japanese society assume a marriage between a male and a female who share their asset as the one, agree exclusive sexual relationship. Not following that pattern and you have huge negative impact on tax, school, health insurance and everything which makes those who want to have a child but don't agree on traditional marriage system holding to have a baby. Conclusion: The marriage is outdated.

georgeecollins 7y ago
What if our world doesn't really need more people and the economic incentives (not everywhere, but in the west now and maybe everywhere later) are discouraging children? You could see that as bad if you value tradition. But maybe people used to have a lot of children because they were valuable to work the land and now the incentives are different. In the long run is it bad if people have less children for a while? There are more people alive today than ever before.
DoreenMichele 7y ago
The US also has a lot of people putting off sex, marriage, etc. I suspect part of it is just there's stuff to do 24/7. If you have internet access, you can read, educate yourself (with or without credentials), talk to people around the world, watch porn etc etc any time of the day or night. A former hippy once told me "TV shut off at 9pm. There wasn't anything else to do but sex and drugs." We have the opposite of that. There are so many things to do, lots of people seem to be forgoing sex. Because: Meh.
radicsge 7y ago
It will be never outdated, it is a must for healthy mental grow of children (as you also weakly pointed out). To get love, to be able to focus and deliver, get direction, learn and bring forward traditions, learn social skills, create bond etc. Of course orphanage also works, but hard to imagine it is the ideal structure, thou it worked for Turkish janissary (there are probably plenty of other examples from history) and now China also trying it with minorities. Children are not as expensive as one imagine, you might have to give up the most expensive phone/car luxury etc. But just ask any elderly if it worth it. If your mind thinking more like assets, children has the biggest appreciation value over anything.
- scooble 7y ago
  I know several unmarried, non-conventional and blended families who seem to disprove the theory that marriage is a necessary condition for a child's healthy upbringing. And it is clearly false that marriage is a sufficient condition.
  - mensetmanusman 7y ago
    There are outliers, usually composed of individuals who are also outliers in terms of ability.
- ezoe 7y ago
  >It will be never outdated... With today's variety of sexuality and values, that idea is also outdated. >Children are not as expensive as one imagine... Today's average Japanese young generations barely live with any savings. If they have savings, they are living with parents or very lucky. That means they can't even afford to double the food cost. Children requires more than food. A private room for example. Children deserve a privacy so they deserve a private room. But the housing price is too high. You can't afford to have extra rooms. You can't afford to rent a house with a lot of rooms and you can't afford to have a real estate. If you can't have a money, your only option is to live in a rural less demanding area where the house price is cheaper. But it requires 1.5 hours between your house and office. You work 8 hours per day and waste 3 hours just inside the train. Education cost is also steadily rising as well as tax. my parent used to say they pay their tuition by working themselves. Sure, when they were a student, school cost was like one week worth of work. Thanks to the lower school cost, higher wage, and most importantly, less tax! It's like straight out from the Old Economy Steve meme.
ksec 7y ago
>The reason is nothing but for the lack of money. Which isn't a Japanese only problem either. The countries which has less birth rate and marriage problem are also the ones with better child benefits, health care and education.
IloveHN84 7y ago
It will be the beginning of our extinction least in rich and developed countries, where millennials strive to survive due to poor boomers' financial and political choices (sorry, but nobody mentioned it). Give millennials more money that they actually receive and you'll see people take marriage as a choice again

by ezoe 7y ago

georgeecollins 7y ago

What if our world doesn't really need more people and the economic incentives (not everywhere, but in the west now and maybe everywhere later) are discouraging children? You could see that as bad if you value tradition. But maybe people used to have a lot of children because they were valuable to work the land and now the incentives are different. In the long run is it bad if people have less children for a while? There are more people alive today than ever before.

DoreenMichele 7y ago

The US also has a lot of people putting off sex, marriage, etc. I suspect part of it is just there's stuff to do 24/7. If you have internet access, you can read, educate yourself (with or without credentials), talk to people around the world, watch porn etc etc any time of the day or night. A former hippy once told me "TV shut off at 9pm. There wasn't anything else to do but sex and drugs." We have the opposite of that. There are so many things to do, lots of people seem to be forgoing sex. Because: Meh.

radicsge 7y ago

It will be never outdated, it is a must for healthy mental grow of children (as you also weakly pointed out). To get love, to be able to focus and deliver, get direction, learn and bring forward traditions, learn social skills, create bond etc. Of course orphanage also works, but hard to imagine it is the ideal structure, thou it worked for Turkish janissary (there are probably plenty of other examples from history) and now China also trying it with minorities. Children are not as expensive as one imagine, you might have to give up the most expensive phone/car luxury etc. But just ask any elderly if it worth it. If your mind thinking more like assets, children has the biggest appreciation value over anything.

scooble 7y ago
I know several unmarried, non-conventional and blended families who seem to disprove the theory that marriage is a necessary condition for a child's healthy upbringing. And it is clearly false that marriage is a sufficient condition.
- mensetmanusman 7y ago
  There are outliers, usually composed of individuals who are also outliers in terms of ability.
ezoe 7y ago
>It will be never outdated... With today's variety of sexuality and values, that idea is also outdated. >Children are not as expensive as one imagine... Today's average Japanese young generations barely live with any savings. If they have savings, they are living with parents or very lucky. That means they can't even afford to double the food cost. Children requires more than food. A private room for example. Children deserve a privacy so they deserve a private room. But the housing price is too high. You can't afford to have extra rooms. You can't afford to rent a house with a lot of rooms and you can't afford to have a real estate. If you can't have a money, your only option is to live in a rural less demanding area where the house price is cheaper. But it requires 1.5 hours between your house and office. You work 8 hours per day and waste 3 hours just inside the train. Education cost is also steadily rising as well as tax. my parent used to say they pay their tuition by working themselves. Sure, when they were a student, school cost was like one week worth of work. Thanks to the lower school cost, higher wage, and most importantly, less tax! It's like straight out from the Old Economy Steve meme.

ksec 7y ago

>The reason is nothing but for the lack of money. Which isn't a Japanese only problem either. The countries which has less birth rate and marriage problem are also the ones with better child benefits, health care and education.

IloveHN84 7y ago

It will be the beginning of our extinction least in rich and developed countries, where millennials strive to survive due to poor boomers' financial and political choices (sorry, but nobody mentioned it). Give millennials more money that they actually receive and you'll see people take marriage as a choice again