Some other factors: 1. Wealth: despite long term economic malaise, Japan is still one of the richest countries. Rich people tend to have fewer children. Japan'

Some other factors: 1. Wealth: despite long term economic malaise, Japan is still one of the richest countries. Rich people tend to have fewer children. Japan's GINI coefficient is also a lot lower compared to, say, the US, which means the wealth is spread around a lot more. That means that a comparatively greater proportion have a high log-wealth than in the US, and would thus be less inclined to have kids. 2. Lack of opportunity for moms: day care is expensive (no immigrants to do it) and in short supply. If you can't get into daycare, you basically have no choice but to stop working. A lot of women don't see this as being worth the sacrifice. Here is a recent Planet Money article on this: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/07/19/203372076/will-robot-nannies-save-japans-economy http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/07/19/203372076/will-rob...