The Japanese Demographic Trend and the Government Spending in Social Security. Focus on the low birth rate and the Government's spending on Welfare.

Abstract

In this thesis I will try to understand whether the demographic trend in Japanese society is related to the government's spending on welfare. In other words, whether expenditures passively follow social and demographic trends or encourage them to change. The reason why I chose to research about this topic is connected to the recent over-aging of the Japanese population a low natality rate and an increase of the death rate, which caused the population to decrease around 2 million people in the last seven years. As this trend show no sign of stopping any time soon, I am interested to understand if the Japanese Government was and is trying, allocating incentives, and creating reforms to change the growing trend. To find an answer to my question I will analyze the current Japanese Demographic Trend, and its future development, thought data of the Population Census stipulated by the Statistic Bureau of Japan and population projections produced by the National Institute of population and Social Security research. Alongside I will analyze the Japanese Social Expenses allocated to social security by the government by using the report produced by the Ministry of Finance of Japan. Another aspect I will study is the Japanese Tax System, as its revenue is the main contributor to public spending. By studying its structure and system through the data produced by the Ministry of Finance of Japan, I hope to understand how it can change with the introduction of the new reforms. To conclude my research, I will also search for the reforms implemented by the government on Welfare in the last three decades. Through their analysis, I hope to understand if they have influenced the Japanese demographic situation, and whether the responses have been positive or negative.