DemographyJapan
Children’s Future Strategy and the child-rearing support levy
Adopted by the Cabinet on 22 December 2023 to reverse the fall in births « before the 2030s », the Children’s Future Strategy sets an « acceleration plan » of about ¥3.6 trillion: child allowance without income cap and up to high-school age, ¥100,000 pregnancy benefit, leave benefit worth 100% of take-home pay. The act of 12 June 2024 finances part of it with a new levy collected with health insurance premiums since April 2026, rising to about ¥1 trillion in fiscal 2028.
Updated: November 5, 2026Next milestone: April 2027 — Fiscal 2027: levy rises to about ¥800 billion
At a glance
Reference text
子ども・子育て支援法等の一部を改正する法律（令和6年法律第47号） (Act Partially Amending the Child and Child-Rearing Support Act and Other Acts, Act No. 47 of 2024)[3][4]
No. 令和6年法律第47号 (Act No. 47 of 2024) · June 12, 2024
Read the text ↗Carried by
- Kishida Fumio (岸田文雄)[11][1]Prime Minister — Children’s Future Strategy (Cabinet decision of 22 December 2023) and defence of the bill in the Diet · 2023-2024 · Initiator
- Katō Ayuko (加藤鮎子)[10]Minister of State for Policies on Children and Measures for the Declining Birthrate — presented the bill to the House of Representatives · 2024 · Initiator
Implementation
- Children and Families Agency (こども家庭庁)
- Health insurers (employee insurance, municipal National Health Insurance, late-stage elderly schemes), which collect the levy with premiums and pay it to the State
- Municipalities (child allowance, pregnancy benefit, « Daredemo tsūen » childcare access)
Stated objective
Halt the decline in births — « the period until the 2030s is the last chance » to reverse it — by building a society where young people can marry as they wish, everyone who wants children can have them and raise them without worry, through higher incomes for young people, support for every child-rearing household and shared parenting by working couples; financed, according to the government, without a tax increase and without a « real » extra burden.[1][10][18]
According to the Children’s Future Strategy (Cabinet decision of 22 December 2023) and the minister’s presentation of the bill (2 April 2024)
Size of the acceleration plan (¥ trillion, national and local, project basis)
3.6
once fully implemented (fiscal 2028) · according to the Children’s Future Strategy[1][20]
Planned financing: about ¥1.5 trillion from existing budgets, ¥1.1 trillion from spending reform and ¥1.0 trillion from the levy; no consumption tax increase.
Main measures
- Child allowance from October 2024: income cap abolished, paid up to high-school age (until the 31 March after the 18th birthday), ¥15,000 a month under 3 and ¥10,000 from 3, ¥30,000 from the third child; paid every two months instead of three times a year.[22][1]
- Pregnancy support benefit of ¥100,000 equivalent, written into the Child and Child-Rearing Support Act from April 2025, with counselling from pregnancy onwards.[20][1]
- Shared parenting: from April 2025 a post-birth leave benefit bringing leave pay to the equivalent of 100% of take-home pay when both parents take leave, and a benefit worth 10% of wages during reduced working hours; from October 2026 exemption from national pension premiums during childcare for the self-employed and freelancers.[20][10]
- « Daredemo tsūen » (« childcare for everyone »): a new benefit so that children under 3 who do not attend daycare can attend a childcare facility — trial in 2024, statutory scheme in 2025, benefit from April 2026.[20][10]
- Financing: a « child and child-rearing support levy » collected by every health insurer with premiums from fiscal 2026, with benchmark totals of about ¥600 billion (2026), ¥800 billion (2027) and ¥1 trillion (2028), to be built within the savings from social security spending reform; children in National Health Insurance are exempt from the per-capita part. A dedicated special account (« children’s fund ») is created and special bonds bridge the financing until fiscal 2028.[9][20][21][10]
In data
2015-2025, final figures
| Year | Live births |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,005,721 |
| 2016 | 977,242 |
| 2017 | 946,146 |
| 2018 | 918,400 |
| 2019 | 865,239 |
| 2020 | 840,835 |
| 2021 | 811,622 |
| 2022 | 770,759 |
| 2023 | 727,288 |
| 2024 | 686,173 |
| 2025 | 671,270 |
Scale starts at 0 · Japanese nationals in Japan (vital statistics). 2025 is the lowest since records began in 1899.
2015-2025
| Year | Total fertility rate |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 1.45 |
| 2016 | 1.44 |
| 2017 | 1.43 |
| 2018 | 1.42 |
| 2019 | 1.36 |
| 2020 | 1.33 |
| 2021 | 1.3 |
| 2022 | 1.26 |
| 2023 | 1.2 |
| 2024 | 1.15 |
| 2025 | 1.14 |
Scale starts at 0 · The 2025 rate is the national total published with the final figures on 30 September 2026; the detailed rates are due in November 2026.
fiscal years 2026-2028
| Fiscal year | All schemes, per insured person | Employee insurance, per policyholder | Late-stage elderly (75+) scheme |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (estimate) | 250 | 500 | 200 |
| 2027 (projection) | 350 | 600 | 250 |
| 2028 (projection) | 450 | 800 | 350 |
Scale starts at 0 · Estimates of the Children and Families Agency, excluding the employer’s share, rounded to ¥50; « the results should be read with a considerable margin ».
Population by age band (share)
Value currently unavailable
Key figures
Live births
671,270
2025 · Observed
according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (final vital statistics)[23]
Tenth consecutive fall (−2.2% on 2024).
Total fertility rate (children per woman)
1.14
2025 · Observed
according to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare[23][1]
Record low; 1.26 in 2022, the figure quoted by the strategy.
Levy rate for employees
0.23%
fiscal 2026 · Observed
uniform rate set by the State, according to the Children and Families Agency[19]
Of the standard monthly remuneration, half paid by the employer.
Extra benefits per child up to high-school age (¥ million)
1.46
cumulative to age 18, fiscal 2028 basis · Announced
according to the Children and Families Agency[20]
Against about ¥100,000 of levy per insured person over 19 years (simple sum of ¥450 a month), on the agency’s average figures.
Timeline
Cabinet adopts the Children’s Future Strategy Policy[2]
- Under debate
Government bill submitted to the House of Representatives[3]
Promulgation of Act No. 47 of 2024[3]
Opposition bill to abolish the levy[7][8]
Tabled by Constitutional Democratic Party deputies (Shina Takeshi and six others): no levy, measures funded instead from the dividends of the exchange-traded funds held by the Bank of Japan. The House of Representatives’ record shows it held over for out-of-session examination, without a vote.
¥100,000 pregnancy benefit and leave benefit at 100% of take-home pay[20]
« Daredemo tsūen » childcare access becomes a benefit[20]
National pension premium exemption during childcare for the self-employed[20]
- Upcoming — the outcome is not known
Fiscal 2028: levy reaches about ¥1 trillion, end of the build-up[9][21]
Benchmark set by the act; about ¥450 a month per insured person on average (estimate). From fiscal 2028 the late-stage elderly share, fixed at 8% for 2026-2027, is set every two years by the Prime Minister.
The debate
Citoyen takes no position: arguments are reported as their authors put them.
According to its supporters
- Prime Minister Kishida argued that the levy creates no « real burden » because it is built within the premium savings from spending reform, and promised that the social security burden ratio would not rise as a result.[11][12]
- For the government, the levy is a social insurance contribution, not a tax and not a misuse of health premiums: halting population decline sustains the health insurance system itself, and existing premiums already fund other schemes such as long-term care.[11][20]
- The Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, voting for the bill, stressed that a child-rearing household would contribute about ¥100,000 while receiving about ¥1.46 million of extra benefits per child, while asking the government to keep explaining the « real burden » argument.[14]
- Minister Katō presented the bill as a response to « the greatest crisis » facing Japan: the period until the 2030s is the last chance to reverse the falling birth rate.[10]
According to its opponents
- The Democratic Party for the People called the levy a « stealth tax increase »: a misuse of health premiums whose link between contribution and benefit is unclear, chosen because payroll deductions are felt less than a tax.[17]
- The Constitutional Democratic Party said the « no real burden » claim was sophistry and that the government released the amounts piecemeal; it proposed funding the measures instead from the dividends of the Bank of Japan’s exchange-traded funds.[13][8]
- Nippon Ishin argued that a levy on social insurance is regressive and weighs on the middle-income working generation that should be having children, and vowed to abolish it; it proposed spending cuts, asset sales and special bonds instead.[15]
- The Communist Party called the « no real burden » explanation misleading, noting that the government admitted it rests only on a macro ratio and that reduced public spending means higher out-of-pocket costs for users.[16]
Indicators to watch
- Live births · MHLWno Citoyen card yet
- Total fertility rate · MHLWno Citoyen card yet
- Population by age group (share) · OECDSee the card →
- Child-rearing support levy rate (employee insurance) · Children and Families Agencyno Citoyen card yet
Sources
- [1]こども未来戦略 ～次元の異なる少子化対策の実現に向けて～（令和5年12月22日閣議決定） — 内閣官房 (Cabinet Secretariat), December 22, 2023
- [2]こども未来戦略会議（決定等：こども未来戦略方針 令和5年6月13日、こども未来戦略 令和5年12月22日） — 内閣官房 (Cabinet Secretariat)
- [3]閣法 第213回国会 22 子ども・子育て支援法等の一部を改正する法律案 — 審議経過 — 衆議院 (House of Representatives)
- [4]子ども・子育て支援法等の一部を改正する法律案（提出時法律案） — 衆議院 (House of Representatives), February 16, 2024
- [5]子ども・子育て支援法等の一部を改正する法律案に対する修正案（立憲）（否決） — 衆議院 (House of Representatives), April 2024
- [6]子ども・子育て支援法等の一部を改正する法律案に対する修正案（維教）（否決） — 衆議院 (House of Representatives), April 2024
- [7]衆法 第213回国会 28 子ども・子育て支援法等の一部を改正する法律の一部を改正する法律案 — 審議経過 — 衆議院 (House of Representatives), June 13, 2024
- [8]子ども・子育て支援法等の一部を改正する法律の一部を改正する法律案 — 要綱 — 衆議院 (House of Representatives), June 13, 2024
- [9]子ども・子育て支援法（平成24年法律第65号）— 第71条の3、令和6年法律第47号附則第1条・第47条（現行版） — e-Gov法令検索 (Digital Agency)
- [10]第213回国会 衆議院 本会議 第16号（令和6年4月2日）— 加藤国務大臣 趣旨説明 — 国会会議録検索システム (National Diet Library), April 2, 2024
- [11]第213回国会 衆議院 本会議 第16号（令和6年4月2日）— 岸田内閣総理大臣 答弁（岡本あき子議員への答弁） — 国会会議録検索システム (National Diet Library), April 2, 2024
- [12]第213回国会 衆議院 本会議 第16号（令和6年4月2日）— 岸田内閣総理大臣 答弁（一谷勇一郎議員への答弁） — 国会会議録検索システム (National Diet Library), April 2, 2024
- [13]第213回国会 衆議院 本会議 第23号（令和6年4月19日）— 坂本祐之輔議員（立憲民主党・無所属）反対討論 — 国会会議録検索システム (National Diet Library), April 19, 2024
- [14]第213回国会 衆議院 本会議 第23号（令和6年4月19日）— 河西宏一議員（公明党）賛成討論 — 国会会議録検索システム (National Diet Library), April 19, 2024
- [15]第213回国会 衆議院 本会議 第23号（令和6年4月19日）— 赤木正幸議員（日本維新の会・教育無償化を実現する会）反対討論 — 国会会議録検索システム (National Diet Library), April 19, 2024
- [16]第213回国会 衆議院 本会議 第23号（令和6年4月19日）— 高橋千鶴子議員（日本共産党）反対討論 — 国会会議録検索システム (National Diet Library), April 19, 2024
- [17]第213回国会 衆議院 本会議 第23号（令和6年4月19日）— 田中健議員（国民民主党・無所属クラブ）反対討論 — 国会会議録検索システム (National Diet Library), April 19, 2024
- [18]加速化プランによる子育て支援の拡充と子ども・子育て支援金 — こども家庭庁 (Children and Families Agency)
- [19]子ども・子育て支援金制度について — こども家庭庁 (Children and Families Agency)
- [20]子ども・子育て支援金の概要について（最終更新：令和7年12月26日） — こども家庭庁 (Children and Families Agency), December 26, 2025
- [21]子ども・子育て支援金に関する試算（医療保険加入者一人当たり平均月額） — こども家庭庁 (Children and Families Agency), December 26, 2025
- [22]もっと子育て応援！児童手当 — こども家庭庁 (Children and Families Agency)
- [23]令和７(2025)年人口動態統計(確定数)を公表します（報道発表資料） — 厚生労働省 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), September 30, 2026
- [24]令和７(2025)年人口動態統計(確定数)の概況 — 統計表（第1表・第2表 人口動態総覧の年次推移） — 厚生労働省 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), September 30, 2026