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Japan’s ‘singles tax’ is just one battle after another
A shift in demographic make-up has created a backlash against funding to boost birth rates.
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Japan’s “singles tax” was introduced to help pay for policies on the level of Scandinavian countries to encourage more kids, including increasing childcare availability, says the writer.
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Gearoid Reidy
In public policy, well-meaning but complicated ideas are often undone by a catchy name.
Britain had its “bedroom tax,” the US its periodic battles over the “death tax”. Now it’s Japan’s turn, with the “singles tax” set to be imposed starting next month, part of financing for measures to boost fertility rates.
