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So will every country eventually. Usually countries solve this with immigration but Asian countries (as opposed to Western ones) are quite xenophobic based on p

So will every country eventually. Usually countries solve this with immigration but Asian countries (as opposed to Western ones) are quite xenophobic based on personal experience and those of talking with others. As such, they don't let in many people and those that do find a hard time becoming a citizen (Japan's resident foreigner population is 2.29% according to Wikipedia). There is also not a huge reason to have children, I think many are finding. The societal pressure from decades or centuries past is simply not there much anymore. They already have jobs, are making money, so why spend it on raising a child which can be very expensive? Or they're not making enough money to raise them (see rising rent prices and stagnating wages), so again, why spend all that money they don't have on raising a child?

steele 4y ago
South Korea is not xenophobic
- decafninja 4y ago
  I wouldn't describe SK as xenophobic, but it's definitely far, far, closer to being a homogenous society than a melting pot. Those not of Korean ancestry are treated as outsiders. This doesn't necessarily mean disrespectfully, though in some cases it does.
- teej 4y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_South_Korea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_South_Korea
  - cercatrova 4y ago
    When I went to South Korea earlier this year, I was denied entry to a business while my ethnically Korean friends were allowed. I was astonished that this kind of thing happened in this day and age.
    - steele 4y ago
- steele 4y ago
  I guess I should clarify that South Korea is not xenophobic to people that don't carry themselves as obvious sex pests
colechristensen 4y ago
I think a lot of people want children but can’t afford them so they’re delaying. Living in a tiny apartment in a questionable neighborhood makes people say later and not being able to afford help and having to dedicate every moment to attending your child just isn’t that appealing.
- AlexandrB 4y ago
  > Living in a tiny apartment in a questionable neighborhood makes people say later I think people had more kids in far worse conditions than this in the past. So it's not unthinkable. But I think what we're seeing is a decline in living standards in relative terms. People want their kids to have a life at least as good as their own childhood and that's becoming out of reach for many as housing, healthcare, and education become unaffordable.
  - colechristensen 4y ago
    Sure, in the past. It's not the past. In the past having children was also an econnomic benefit because they'd help you with your livelihood. "People used to have children while living in squalor, why aren't they choosing this now?!" isn't a convincing argument. So much of the cost of living is just based on housing inflating everything else. Middlemen got in the way realizing that housing isn't elastic and people will just pay. Especially when you can convince people that house prices are going to inflate so get in now and get yours! The only way out is to eject the leeches from the real estate market and intentionally drop housing prices significantly keeping policy in place to keep the investors out. If it doesn't happen intentionally, it's going to happen anyway when population decline leaves housing empty. That crisis is coming one way or the other. Maybe it'll end up being something like the old Roman bailout where the state would just cancel all debts.
rayiner 4y ago
Are Asian countries xenophobic, or do they not want the cultural changes that come from immigration? Those are two completely different things. I’m a south Asian with a beard, and apart from racial profiling at the airport, I’ve been treated uniformly pleasantly in Tokyo. But they would object to millions of south Asians moving there and bringing their differing cultural attitudes. They would have to say goodbye to spotless Tokyo streets and everyone patiently walking two blocks to get to a cross walk instead of jaywalking! If a New Yorker wouldn’t want a million Appalachians moving to their city and changing the culture, that wouldn’t be xenophobia. Same thing for Asian countries who don’t want different cultural groups in their country.
- cercatrova 4y ago
  Well either that or their population continues to decline. I'm not sure what the alternative is.
  - nullish_signal 4y ago
    Offer tax credits to stable married couples with children. There are alternatives other than importing foreigners or dying off
    - cercatrova 4y ago
      It seems like that's not as much of a factor as one expects, as evidenced in Scandinavia and Finland [0]. Researchers said that even with high parental care policies, people still aren't having as many children. This is I think more related to people simply not wanting kids rather than policies relating to parental and child care. [0] https://sciencenorway.no/birth-family-planning-population/record-low-fertility-rates-in-norway-finland-and-iceland/1642832 https://sciencenorway.no/birth-family-planning-population/re...
- tptacek 4y ago
  From friends who live in Tokyo, my understanding is: xenophobic and racist. Like, there are schools mixed-race kids can't get into?
EE84M3i 4y ago
I live in Japan, and IMO Japan is very easy to immigrate to - if you are educated and can find someone to hire you. The second part is difficult for many that want to move here, because almost all jobs require some level of Japanese proficiency.

steele 4y ago

South Korea is not xenophobic

decafninja 4y ago
I wouldn't describe SK as xenophobic, but it's definitely far, far, closer to being a homogenous society than a melting pot. Those not of Korean ancestry are treated as outsiders. This doesn't necessarily mean disrespectfully, though in some cases it does.
teej 4y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_South_Korea https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism_in_South_Korea
- cercatrova 4y ago
  When I went to South Korea earlier this year, I was denied entry to a business while my ethnically Korean friends were allowed. I was astonished that this kind of thing happened in this day and age.
  - steele 4y ago
steele 4y ago
I guess I should clarify that South Korea is not xenophobic to people that don't carry themselves as obvious sex pests

colechristensen 4y ago

I think a lot of people want children but can’t afford them so they’re delaying. Living in a tiny apartment in a questionable neighborhood makes people say later and not being able to afford help and having to dedicate every moment to attending your child just isn’t that appealing.

AlexandrB 4y ago
> Living in a tiny apartment in a questionable neighborhood makes people say later I think people had more kids in far worse conditions than this in the past. So it's not unthinkable. But I think what we're seeing is a decline in living standards in relative terms. People want their kids to have a life at least as good as their own childhood and that's becoming out of reach for many as housing, healthcare, and education become unaffordable.
- colechristensen 4y ago
  Sure, in the past. It's not the past. In the past having children was also an econnomic benefit because they'd help you with your livelihood. "People used to have children while living in squalor, why aren't they choosing this now?!" isn't a convincing argument. So much of the cost of living is just based on housing inflating everything else. Middlemen got in the way realizing that housing isn't elastic and people will just pay. Especially when you can convince people that house prices are going to inflate so get in now and get yours! The only way out is to eject the leeches from the real estate market and intentionally drop housing prices significantly keeping policy in place to keep the investors out. If it doesn't happen intentionally, it's going to happen anyway when population decline leaves housing empty. That crisis is coming one way or the other. Maybe it'll end up being something like the old Roman bailout where the state would just cancel all debts.

rayiner 4y ago

Are Asian countries xenophobic, or do they not want the cultural changes that come from immigration? Those are two completely different things. I’m a south Asian with a beard, and apart from racial profiling at the airport, I’ve been treated uniformly pleasantly in Tokyo. But they would object to millions of south Asians moving there and bringing their differing cultural attitudes. They would have to say goodbye to spotless Tokyo streets and everyone patiently walking two blocks to get to a cross walk instead of jaywalking! If a New Yorker wouldn’t want a million Appalachians moving to their city and changing the culture, that wouldn’t be xenophobia. Same thing for Asian countries who don’t want different cultural groups in their country.

cercatrova 4y ago
Well either that or their population continues to decline. I'm not sure what the alternative is.
- nullish_signal 4y ago
  Offer tax credits to stable married couples with children. There are alternatives other than importing foreigners or dying off
  - cercatrova 4y ago
    It seems like that's not as much of a factor as one expects, as evidenced in Scandinavia and Finland [0]. Researchers said that even with high parental care policies, people still aren't having as many children. This is I think more related to people simply not wanting kids rather than policies relating to parental and child care. [0] https://sciencenorway.no/birth-family-planning-population/record-low-fertility-rates-in-norway-finland-and-iceland/1642832 https://sciencenorway.no/birth-family-planning-population/re...
tptacek 4y ago
From friends who live in Tokyo, my understanding is: xenophobic and racist. Like, there are schools mixed-race kids can't get into?

EE84M3i 4y ago

I live in Japan, and IMO Japan is very easy to immigrate to - if you are educated and can find someone to hire you. The second part is difficult for many that want to move here, because almost all jobs require some level of Japanese proficiency.