From India, to Japan, to America

In Human Geo today, we continued on with the video. We learned more stats about India- population could grow by 1 billion by 2050 if couples had 2 children, or 2 billion by 2050 if couples had 2.5 children. The population of the world could increase from around 6-11 billion. Then the video moved onto Japan. We were shown a school that used to have 300 children, now only one kid sits in a single classroom, the last probable student of that school. The fertility rate of Japan is extremely low- it's 1.4 children per woman. One possible reason for this is that many women there are deciding not to get married and have kids, but instead get a job and find new opportunities. Some refer to them as "parasite singles". Japan's economy has also been in a recession. Many more women are starting to have to work rather than stay at home, so their family can stay in the middle class (same for the U.S.) We learned that by 2050, 1 in 3 Japanese will be over the age of 65. There are beginning to be more older people than younger people. We were told the story of the Ohno family: they were an 80 year old elderly couple, whose children left them to start their own families. They have to take care of themselves instead, and they have to work to make a living even at their old age because the only nearby nursing home was full. There is some good news for the elderly in Japan however- disability in the elderly is has been decreasing, so they are able to do more things that people around the age of 40 can do when they are 60,70, or 80. But there is a downside too- soon there will be fewer young workers to help the elders, and help with the industry and marketing and jobs suited for younger people. This will result in less money being made, so not enough taxes, and no Welfare.

Our economy is opposite from Japan however- because of all the immigrants we have coming to our country. On the downside, our economy generates 1/4 of the gases contributing to global warming- we are #2 on the list of the countries most polluting the world.

A similar issue facing these three countries we have talked about so far is the amount of children women are having - it greatly affects population. Many countries are encouraging couples to have more than 2 kids. A conclusion to this is- countries that have the resources to have children aren't, and countries that can't afford to have children are.