Young Japanese are not interested in following in their parents' footsteps, with only about 16 percent of them saying their parents' lives are worth living, according to a government report released Tuesday.

Justice Minister Chieko Noono, who doubles as state minister in charge of juveniles and efforts to reverse the falling birthrate, presented the 2005 white paper at a Cabinet meeting.

The government polled 7,500 people aged 15 to 29 and their parents in January and February. It found that only 16.7 percent of respondents said their fathers' lives are worth living and just 15.5 percent feel the same way about their mothers.

But 46.2 percent of respondents said their fathers are "kind and warm," and 54.8 percent said their mothers "discuss many things" with them.

While the government faces a rising number of young people not engaged in employment, education or training, or NEETs for short, 52.9 percent of junior high school students and unemployed young people said they want to work if they can find a job of their choice.

But 52.6 percent of parents want their children to work even if the job is not of their preference, indicating a perception gap between parents and offspring. Of the unemployed, 24.3 percent said they are willing to work even if the job isn't their first choice and 5.4 percent said they do not want to work at all.