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1、TestTwoTextASincethemid-1970s,whenitbecameclearthatthenumberofbirthswasresolutelydeclining,Japanesegovernmentshavemadeeffortstoencouragepeopletohavemorebabies.Butforallthattheyhaveincreasedchildbenefitsandprovidedday-carecentresinthepast30years,thebirthratehasremainedstubbornlylow.Onereasonisthati
2、nJapan,unlikeintheWest,marriageisstillmoreorlessaprerequisiteforhavingchildren.Only2%ofbirthstakeplaceoutofwedlock.Andweddingscostalotofmoney.Themoreelaboratesortmayinvolverentingachocolate-box“church”andhiringorbuyingatleastthreebridaloutfits.Havinggonetoallthattrouble,marriedcouplesdo,infact,hav
3、eanaverageofslightlymorethantwochildren,justabovewhatisneededforbirthstoexceeddeaths.Thetroubleisthatfewerandfewerpeoplegetmarried.Womenwaiteverlongerandincreasinglydonotbotheratall.AccordingtotheNIPSSR,sixoutoftenwomenintheirmid-tolate20s,whichusedtobethepeakchild-bearingage,arestillunwed.Butthec
4、ostofweddingsmaybetheleastofthereasonswhytheJapaneseareincreasinglyputtingoffmarriageoravoidingitaltogether.Oneweightieroneisthatemploymentratesamongwomenhaveincreasedbutprivatecompaniesimplicitlydiscouragemothersfromreturningtotheiroldjobs.ToshiakiTachibanaki,aneconomistwhohaswrittenoninequalitya
5、mongJapanesewomen,findsthatabout80%offemalecivilservantsreturntotheiroldjobsafterhavingchildrenbecausetheygetreasonablematernitybenefitsandhelpwithchildcare.Butinprivatecompaniestheyaretypicallylesswelllookedafter,andonlyaboutathirdgobacktowork.Itdoesnothelpthatunemploymentishighandincomesarelowam
6、ongtheyoung—especiallyamongyoungmen,whoincreasinglygiveupevenlookingforjobs.OneofJapan’smostprominentsociologists,MasahiroYamadaofChuoUniversity,thinksthatmostyoungJapanesewomenstillwanttobehousewives,butarestrugglingtofindabreadwinnerwhoearnsenoughtosupportthem.Hepointsoutthathalftheyoungpeopleof
7、primemarryingage—20-34—stilllivewiththeirparents.Inthe1990shecoinedtheterm“parasitesingles”todescribethem.Theyseemedtobegettingagooddeal,savingmoneyonrentandspendingitonforeigntravelandluxurygoodsinstead.Iftheywa
