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City Hall’s Digital Matchmaking Initiative: Navigating Japan’s Declining Marriage Rates and Birth Rates Amid a Labor Shortage Crisis

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An online platform providing advice and general information for those seeking relationships is currently available, and a dating application is being developed. The local government plans to launch it later this year, making it accessible via mobile devices and the web.

Specifics are still being finalized. City Hall did not respond to Japanese media claims that the app will necessitate identity verification, such as a driver's license, proof of income through tax records, and a signed declaration of readiness for marriage.

In Japan, fewer people are getting married, and birth rates have reached their lowest recorded levels, based on recent data from the health ministry released on Wednesday. The number of marriages last year was 474,717, a decrease from 504,930 in 2022. Similarly, births dropped to 727,277 from the previous year's 770,759.

At the national scale, the government is addressing a significant workforce deficit by offering financial incentives to families with kids and bolstering child-care services. Additionally, it has gradually eased immigration regulations to attract more foreign labor.

In the 1970s, a period often referred to as the "baby boom" era, Japan saw annual births exceeding 2 million. Nowadays, similar to trends seen among young adults globally, fewer Japanese individuals are showing interest in traditional marriage or starting families.

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