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[Info. File] Local Governments’ Marriage Support Initiatives
Training Volunteers, Life-Design Seminars, and More
It is often pointed out that the leading driver of declining births is the rise in non-marriage among young people. Across Japan, local governments are rolling out initiatives to support young people in getting married.
Additional Municipal Approaches
Supporting local government initiatives is the government's "Regional Low Birthrate Countermeasures Priority Promotion Grant (Marriage and New Life Support Project)." This grant is used by local governments for "initiatives related to marriage," "initiatives to create a society and foster a positive atmosphere for marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing," and "marriage and new life support projects" (subsidizing rent, moving expenses, etc. for newly married couples).
Among these, marriage support projects include "online marriage counseling and hands-on support," "training of personnel such as marriage support volunteers," "advancement of matching systems such as AI," and "life design seminars for younger generations."
Source: Created by the author
The Agency for Child and Family Affairs' website features the following examples of initiatives by local governments in fiscal year 2023 (Agency for Child and Family Affairs, "Collection of Case Studies for the Regional Low Birthrate Countermeasures Priority Promotion Grant, Fiscal Year 2023").
As an example of volunteer training and the introduction of matching systems, Ishikawa Prefecture trains matchmaking volunteers who introduce potential partners, provide opportunities for encounters, and offer follow-up support. Furthermore, they have newly introduced an AI matching system with support from volunteers.
Oita Prefecture has established a matchmaking support center that provides matchmaking services and marriage-hunting seminars. They have also introduced an AI-powered matching system.
As an example of a comprehensive life design seminar for younger generations, in Gunma Prefecture, university students and others participate from the planning stage, creating booklets to distribute to young people. They also conduct life design courses where university and high school students learn together, and create a system where the community collaborates to support young people's life planning.
Kyoto Prefecture is implementing a program that involves visiting and learning from families with children working at companies in the prefecture. They also hold workshops for students and young staff members to think about life design using original teaching materials.
Furthermore, as a system to support marriage throughout the community, Niigata City has formed a marriage support network with various companies and organizations. They issue passports that allow couples planning to get married to receive services from these companies. The aim is to give people the impression that their marriage is supported by companies, the community, and the government.
Additional Municipal Approaches
In municipalities implementing these programs, the focus is on training and networking marriage support volunteers, as well as inter-municipal cooperation. Akita and Shimane prefectures are working together as a community to support marriage through cross-regional exchanges. Nagasaki prefecture is strengthening inter-municipal cooperation by establishing matchmaking system windows and identifying and training marriage supporters. Mie prefecture is creating opportunities for people to meet across a wide area through cooperation between the prefecture and multiple cities and towns. When asked about
the effects that have actually been seen from measures to combat the declining birthrate so far, the most common response was "an increase in the percentage of residents who think it is easy to raise children" (13 prefectures (27.7%), 363 municipalities (25.0%)), while "an increase in the number of marriages" was only reported by 1 prefecture (2.1%) and 56 municipalities (3.9%) (Cabinet Office, "Survey on the Status of Local Governments' Efforts to Combat the Declining Birthrate in FY2021").
These programs may take time to show results, but future efforts will be closely watched.
(Published with additions and revisions in the November 2023 issue of "EN-ICHI FORUM")
