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December 3, 2008 2:24:18 AM CST

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In Japan, Elders Outnumber Kids

Posted May 6, 08 1:16 PM CDT in World 

(Newser) – Monday was Children’s Day in Japan, but the holiday has a bitter irony in a land where the number of children has been waning for 27 years. Kids account for only 13.5% of Japan’s population, while the elderly make up 22%, the Washington Post reports.

The steady population shrinkage will have drastic effects. By 2050, Japan will have lost 70% of its labor force, and at the current rate, in a century the country will have only one-third of its current population.

Source Washington Post

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