In a survey conducted by the Yomiuri Shimbun, sixty-eight percent of people said they either support or somewhat support society as a whole, bearing the cost of government measures to tackle the country's low birth rate.
In the government's specific proposals, less respondents preferred enhancing child care support systems than expanding cash payments, highlighting a preference for environmental change over benefits.
The survey also found that 77% of those age 18 to 39 are in favor of sharing the cost of measures across society, above 68% of those age 40 to 59 and 64% of those age 60 or older.
To cover childbirth expenses through public health insurance to allow people to give birth with peace of mind, 75% of thosesurveyed said it was'somewhat' or'very' promising.
Sixty-eight percent of thesurveyed said they had high expectations for a system that would allow everyone to use child care services regardless of their work situation. In a survey, 50-nine percent of survey subjects had high expectations for a plan to expand income guarantees during child care leave to encourage men to take such leave.
Somewhat less persuasive was a plan to abolish the income cap on child benefits and expand eligibility to all parents with children up to high school age, with 44% of respondents saying they had high expectations for the plan. A rise in child benefits for third and subsequent children was seen as highly promising by 46% of thosesurveyed.
The government is planning to secure an additional 3.5 trillion in the next year for measures to tackle the low birth rate. With regard to how to fund the measures, 73% said they 'oppose' or'somewhat oppose' raising social insurance premiums, 76% said they 'disagree' or'somewhat disagree' with cutting social security spending, and 54% said they 'disagree' or'somewhat disagree' with issuing government bonds.
The survey also found that 92% of the respondents 'agree' or'somewhat agree' that the low birth rate is a serious problem for Japan's future. Asked if it was easy to give birth and raise children in Japan, 77% said they 'disagree,' or'somewhat disagree' that it is easy.
The survey was conducted by mail with 3,000 randomly selected eligible voters from 250 locations across the nation. The questionnaires were sent July 18 and 66%, or 1,972 were returned with valid answers by the Aug. 25 deadline.