Do Migrants Influence Japan’s Aging and Low Fertility Rate? Statistical Analyses From 1995 to 2023

Authors: Sari K. Ishii

Abstract:

This study considers a wider viewpoint to connect migration studies with questions about financial capitalism, which seeks cheap, disposable labour transnationally. Some studies have shared a hypothesis: as Japan is an aging society with a low fertility rate, it must increase the number of migrants. However, few studies have investigated whether the current rate of migrant acceptance has positively affected social aging in Japan. This study offers insight into whether the current state of immigration acceptance contributes to stabilizing the aging society of the nation in the long term or merely fulfills the ephemeral requirements of industries. The analyses in this study focused on three aspects. First, it examined how many migrants in Japan joined the labour market. Second, it analyzed the number of migrants that are aging. Third, it determined the number of dependent migrants accepted through labour migrants. The study findings raise further questions for future empirical studies to verify the schema of financial capitalism through the lens of migration. The scheme of seeking cheap, disposable labour transnationally may result in the descendants of both locals and mobilized labour becoming more unstable than the prior generations.

Keywords: migration, aging society, low fertility rate, Japan