“I Almost Had an Abortion Because of Money” – A Mother’s Story Shows the Reality Behind Japan’s Declining Birthrate
About 10 years ago, Ai (a pseudonym), now 50, was on her way to a hospital to have an abortion. She had just found out she was unexpectedly pregnant with her third child. At the time, her two older children were in elementary school, and the financial pressure of raising three kids felt overwhelming. Her husband worked long hours, and she had no family nearby for support. Ai had been planning to return to work, but the pregnancy changed everything.
Even though her husband wanted to keep the baby, Ai worried about how they would afford the cost of raising another child, especially education. On the way to the hospital, she had second thoughts, remembering her other children as babies and seeing the ultrasound. She asked the nurse, “Can I still back out?” In the end, she decided not to go through with the abortion. Her third child is now in elementary school.
Raising Kids Is Expensive—Even with a High Income
Ai’s family has an annual household income of about 12 million yen (around $75,000–$80,000), which puts them in Japan’s top 10% income bracket. But after taxes and social insurance payments, their take-home pay is much less—around 8 million yen ($50,000+). They live in an expensive area, and government support programs have income limits, so they don’t qualify for many benefits like free high school tuition or full child allowances. After covering expenses like mortgage payments, college support for their oldest child, and daily costs for five people, Ai says she has only about 200,000 yen ($1,300) a month left for everything else. There’s almost nothing left to save.
Government Support Is Growing—but Not Enough
In 2024, Japan introduced more support for families with three or more children, like free university tuition. Ai’s family now qualifies—but by the time her younger kids go to college, her oldest will have graduated, and they’ll no longer be counted as a 3-child household. She appreciates the government’s progress but says it’s not enough to cover actual costs.
Why It Matters
Japan’s birthrate continues to drop. In 2024, only about 686,000 babies were born—a record low. The number of working-age people paying into the system is falling, while the number of elderly people drawing pensions and using healthcare is rising. That means today’s families are paying more in taxes and social insurance than ever. Ai’s family paid about 1.8 million yen ($11,000+) in social insurance in 2024.
To help support families, the government will start collecting a new "child and parenting support payment" in 2026, added on top of health insurance fees. The money will go toward things like child allowances. But not everyone is happy—people without kids call it an unfair “singles tax.”
Different Parties, Different Solutions
Japan’s political parties don’t agree on how to fix the issue. Some want to cancel the new support payment. Others suggest things like special education bonds to fund parenting programs. But so far, there’s no clear path forward.
Ai’s Final Thoughts
Ai says she doesn't regret having her third child, but the fear she felt over money was real—and hasn’t gone away. She believes if people like her, who want children, still feel forced to consider abortion for financial reasons, then Japan isn’t yet a society where people can truly feel safe having and raising children.
by MagazineKey4532
15 comments
Tell that to people in Nigeria. It’s not about not having enough money, it’s about having less money and time for yourself.
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This is what more politicians need to understand. It’s money, not culture or politics or education, that is driving fertility rates down in developed countries. If economic conditions are such that it feels like an actual *choice*, most folks will choose a number between 1 and 3.
“She lives in an expensive area…” but refuses to move; that’s the problem. Complaining about high costs while choosing to stay in a pricey location is like standing in the rain and refusing an umbrella because it’s “not ideal.” You don’t get to opt into expensive choices and then act shocked your money disappears.
12 million yen for an individual places you in top 10% income bracket. 12 million yen for a household means you have to divide it by two, giving you 6 million yen, which is way below the top 10%.
wow, supporting 2 adults and 2 kids on a single income of $80k is really impressive.
A huge part of the problem is Tokyo, or rather the fact that so much of the economic opportunity in the country are centered in Tokyo. The statistics tell the story, birth rate in Tokyo is 30% below average, 60% below the highest prefecture, yet the population of Tokyo continues to grow despite the overall population shrinking because it sucks up so much of the young population. The fact that Tokyo is eating up so much of the economic opportunity is also depressing birth rates in other prefectures. It’s even having impacts on the male female ratios in some cities. There are a number of cities in Japan where young women outnumber young men by as much as 10% because the young men go seek their fortunes in Tokyo but their sisters are expected to stay near home to take care of aging parents.
Young people often face a choice in Japan, stay home near familial support structures and where housing is relatively affordable and commutes reasonable but there are few jobs or move to Tokyo where jobs are plentiful but housing is expensive and cramped and commutes brutal. Neither of those are amenable to having kids. This has been obvious for decades but the only thing the government has done is some halfassed attempts a few years back that haven’t done a thing. If they are serious about tackling the birth rate crisis they absolutely need to tackle the Tokyo problem first. That alone won’t fix everything but until it’s fixed nothing else is going to have much of an impact.
Imagine terminating an unborn child over money. Damn…
Supporting kids makes economic sense for Japan, too. Say I have a kid; I pay for a bunch of stuff myself, and then the state chips in maybe ¥150万/yr for 20 years on education, etc. Then that kid graduates, maybe goes to college or not, and works for 40 years, paying ¥200万/yr in taxes, giving the country ¥250万*20 or ¥5000万 net benefit because I decided to raise a child.
Even like 5-10% tax break for having an underage dependent would be a great help and motivation to undertake the responsibility.
(All the above is given in “today’s dollars”. In reality each number increases per year, but the effect is basically the same due to TVM.)
Isn’t the problem that economies are based on unchecked growth? If that was addressed, then birth rates aren’t so much of an issue?
What was the point of posting this, or even writing the article? This woman didn’t even go through with the abortion. At 40, and already having 2 kids, she’d already contributed plenty to the population crisis, so whose business is it whether or not she’d’ve gone through with the abortion? Thankfully in this country it’s still a woman’s free choice to do so.
>but by the time her younger kids go to college, her oldest will have graduated, and they’ll no longer be counted as a 3-child household.
Wait is there some limitations on how far apart the kids have to be to claim you had 3 kids? Having had 3 kids & currently have 3 kids living with you & still in school doesn’t seem right. Mainly the first two kids may qualify.
I mean, I had a baby at 34 and it was so rough on my body. It took almost 2 years after the birth to start feeling like myself. I have a career and too much other stuff going on to be able to pause for that long again. Even with calcium supplements my child also gave me 5 cavities from leeching calcium. I’m not doing that again, money or no. I’m happy with my one.
Many mothers do all the fucking work. Fathers cannot help because either employer says NO to more days off or fathers are quite useless in the house – can’t even bloody do the laundry let alone cook and feed the kids.
Often mothers also have to pick up a job as well!
How does this work in modern society?
Not everyone has able and capable and nearby grandparents to help out.
The Japanese government is the culprit, by not enforcing the rules and allowing companies to prioritize work over family.
I know what I could do with 12 million a year with my huge family.