:Japan's shrinking population【2】
人口減少のしわ寄せは、社会保障の財政的硬直となって現れる。
Quick Review: The ruling coalition worked out a compromise last month
- to raise premiums from 13.6% to 18.4% of employees' pay,
- while cutting benefits from 59% to 50% of average salaries, over the next decade-and-a-half.
The population of 127m barely changed in 2003, rising by fewer than 100,000. The number of births continued its steady slide, with only 1.12m babies being born last year. Japan's 1.03m recorded deaths, meanwhile, were its highest number since 1947.
