Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged Wednesday to boost Japan's budget for child-rearing to 4% of the country's gross domestic product to tackle the falling birthrate, but he did not elaborate on how the government will secure the extra outlays.
During a parliamentary session, Kishida said Japan's expenditures for policies designed to support children and families reached 2% of GDP in the fiscal year ending March 2021 and the government is aiming to "double the amount."
Although Kishida has said that policies to support families with young children is this year's most pressing agenda item, he had stopped short of clarifying how he would achieve that goal.