Society

70 percent of Japanese parents want more kids: survey

Jun 21 (Japan Times) - The proportion of parents with infants in the country who want to have more children stands at around 70 percent, a private survey found Wednesday.

The joint survey was conducted by the University of Tokyo and education service provider Benesse Holdings Inc. between September and October 2017.

It covered 2,975 mothers and 2,624 fathers with a child aged up to one year.

According to the survey, 74.1 percent of mothers and 68.8 percent of fathers answered that they want more kids.

However, 28.6 percent of the mothers who said they want more kids believed in reality it would be difficult, citing concerns over money and work. The share was 22.3 percent for fathers.

The proportion of parents who want more kids consisted of respondents who were actually planning to have more kids. And of those who want more kids but thought it would be difficult, 80 percent cited the financial burden as the reason why. They were followed by those who referred to the physical burden and the difficulty of balancing home life and work.

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