Japan’s population has gotten so
old that diaper manufacturers are selling more adult diapers for
incontinent seniors than they are baby diapers. According to Bloomberg:
This is because Japan’s population is getting older and older:Unicharm Corp’s sales of adult diapers in Japan exceeded those for babies for the first time last year.
This is a pronounced trend all
over the developed world. As people live longer and as fertility rates
fall, there is a proportionately a larger and larger population of
elderly retirees being supported by a proportionately smaller and
smaller population of young workers paying taxes and interest on debt.
Governments of countries with
ageing populations have a few choices. First, they could relax
immigration laws so that working-age immigrants can enter the country,
work and pay taxes to support the domestic elderly population (Japan has some of the tightest immigration laws in the world).
Second, they could change the tax code or legal framework to
incentivise a higher birthrate (for instance, tax breaks per child).
Third, they could raise the retirement age (or at least provide
incentives to keep an ageing population in work).
Another option is to hope for a miracle. But that doesn’t have a history of working out very well.