Japan’s birth rate, contact tracing in India
FT News Briefing
Forhecz Topher
4.4 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 26 May 2020
⏱️ 9 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Japanese couples are putting off parenthood over coronavirus concerns. The FT’s Tokyo correspondent, Kana Inagaki, explains what this means for a country already suffering from population decline. Plus, countries around the world are aiming to roll out contact-tracing apps as they seek to reopen economies. The FT’s South Asia correspondent, Stephanie Findlay, reports on India’s mandatory system.
Update: India’s contact-tracing policy has been loosened since our interview with Stephanie Findlay was recorded. Since then, India has issued clarifications saying that the Aarogya Setu app is not mandatory for plane travel, but passengers will have to fill out a declaration form when boarding a plane.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Good morning from the Financial Times. |
| 0:02.0 | Today is Tuesday, May 26th, and this is your FT news briefing. |
| 0:07.0 | Japanese couples are putting off parenthood over coronavirus concerns. |
| 0:12.0 | The FT's Tokyo correspondent, |
| 0:14.4 | Kana Inagaki, will explain how this will affect the country that is already |
| 0:18.0 | dealing with low birth rates. Plus, several countries are turning to |
| 0:22.1 | contact tracing apps to try and manage COVID-19 infection rates. |
| 0:26.3 | But the results so far have shown the technology is no silver bullet. |
| 0:30.3 | Our Southeast Asia correspondent, Stephanie Finley, reports on India's mandatory contact |
| 0:35.2 | tracing system and the data privacy concerns emerging from its rollout. |
| 0:39.9 | I'm Mark Filipino, and here's the news you need to start your day. |
| 0:46.2 | Long before coronavirus, economists worried about the toll of Japan's declining population. |
| 0:52.1 | The country has one of the fastest rates of population decline in the world, a very |
| 0:56.6 | low fertility rate. |
| 0:58.6 | Combined, these demographic challenges have put a real strain on the economy and even though more couples |
| 1:04.7 | are stuck at home under coronavirus restrictions there's little sign that this is |
| 1:08.8 | going to lead to a baby boom. Our Tokyo correspondent, Kana Inagaki, has more. |
| 1:15.0 | One reason for Japan's low birth rate is more couples getting married late or actually putting |
| 1:22.1 | off marriage altogether, there is concern that perhaps more people have |
| 1:26.8 | worries about the future or the Japanese economy and that have discouraged them from starting |
| 1:32.1 | a family. |
| 1:33.4 | And of course another reason is that more women are entering the workforce |
... |
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