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1、.TestTwoTextASincethemid-1970s,whenitbecameclearthatthenumberofbirthswasresolutelydeclining,Japanesegovernmentshavemadeeffortstoencouragepeopletohavemorebabies.Butforallthattheyhaveincreasedchildbenefitsandprovidedday-carecentresinthepast30years,thebirthratehasremainedstubbornlylow.One
2、reasonisthatinJapan,unlikeintheWest,marriageisstillmoreorlessaprerequisiteforhavingchildren.Only2%ofbirthstakeplaceoutofwedlock.Andweddingscostalotofmoney.Themoreelaboratesortmayinvolverentingachocolate-box“church”andhiringorbuyingatleastthreebridaloutfits.Havinggonetoallthattrouble,ma
3、rriedcouplesdo,infact,haveanaverageofslightlymorethantwochildren,justabovewhatisneededforbirthstoexceeddeaths.Thetroubleisthatfewerandfewerpeoplegetmarried.Womenwaiteverlongerandincreasinglydonotbotheratall.AccordingtotheNIPSSR,sixoutoftenwomenintheirmid-tolate20s,whichusedtobethepeakc
4、hild-bearingage,arestillunwed.ButthecostofweddingsmaybetheleastofthereasonswhytheJapaneseareincreasinglyputtingoffmarriageoravoidingitaltogether.Oneweightieroneisthatemploymentratesamongwomenhaveincreasedbutprivatecompaniesimplicitlydiscouragemothersfromreturningtotheiroldjobs.Toshiaki
5、Tachibanaki,aneconomistwhohaswrittenoninequalityamongJapanesewomen,findsthatabout80%offemalecivilservantsreturntotheiroldjobsafterhavingchildrenbecausetheygetreasonablematernitybenefitsandhelpwithchildcare.Butinprivatecompaniestheyaretypicallylesswelllookedafter,andonlyaboutathirdgobac
6、ktowork.Itdoesnothelpthatunemploymentishighandincomesarelowamongtheyoung—especiallyamongyoungmen,whoincreasinglygiveupevenlookingforjobs.OneofJapan’smostprominentsociologists,MasahiroYamadaofChuoUniversity,thinksthatmostyoungJapanesewomenstillwanttobehousewives,butarestrugglingtofindab
7、readwinnerwhoearnsenoughtosupportthem.Hepointsoutthathalftheyoungpeopleofprimemarryingage—20-34—stilllivewiththeirparents.Inthe1990shecoinedtheterm“parasitesingles”todescribethem.Theyseemedtobegettingagooddeal,savingmoneyonrentandspendingitonforeigntravelandluxurygoodsinstead.Iftheyw
