The Health and Welfare Ministry will launch a survey next year to track the lives of newborns and certain groups of adults in a bid to better understand social problems such as the dwindling birthrate, ministry sources said Monday.
The so-called cohort survey involves the gathering of data on the family structure, occupation, income, health and other issues, the sources said.
The study, which will be conducted through questionnaires, will cover several hundred thousand babies born in 2001 across Japan and their mothers, as well as about 200,000 single and married people in their 20s and 30s, according to the sources.