Japan - time to be more fertile

As Japan's birth rate drops to an all time low of 1.29 children per woman the governement has introduced a five year plan to help working parents. It seems work-life balance is now all the rage. Private sector estimates show the percentage of the population under 14 years of age falling as low as 6% (currently the ratio is 14%). That's a bit of a tax payer shortage, so the next few years will see more government efforts to get people working less and breeding more. As only 60% of companies offer any kind of child-care leave, and around 12% of employees (according to government statistics) work more than 60 hours a week, this seems a tall order more from the Asia Times