R&D Projects

Biology-informed, family-friendly policies against declining birth rate in Japan

Principal Investigator

Principal Investigator: KURODA Kumi
KURODA Kumi
Principal Investigator, Laboratory for Affiliative Social Behavior, RIKEN Center for Brain Science

Objective

<Objectives>

A: Direct investigation of child maltreatment perpetrators (case history, cognitive and neurological), in order to elucidate the efficient interventions
B: Implementation of parental-support and family support programs supplied by private organizations, in order to facilitate public welfare sourcing
C: Biology-informed evaluation of family policies, in order for policy against declining birth rate in Japan to be more family-friendly

<Goals>

-Family-friendly work environment and work-life balance
-Children-friendly, evidence-based education curriculum
-Restoration of declining birth rate in Japan

Outline

Births in Japan has been declining since 1973, despite numerous policies were issued to tackle this problem. Such policy inefficiency could have been caused by the fact that the policy-making boards have not been well-informed with biological and behavioral sciences of human being, so that the resultant policies were not necessarily biologically feasible. Similarly, policies against declining birth rate have logical conflicts with the current labor policy, which facilitates women's labor in market, as well as elderly care policy, which tries to switch institutional care to family care. Such policy conflicts inevitably increase parental workload in-home, and may sacrifice well-being of family members, especially children.

This research project aims family-friendly, biology-informed policy making against declining birth rate in Japan, by pursuing the following objectives;

A: Direct investigation of child maltreatment perpetrators (case history, cognitive and neurological), in order to elucidate the efficient interventions
B: Implementation of parental-support and family support programs supplied by private organizations, in order to facilitate public welfare sourcing
C: Biological and behavioral science-informed evaluation of family policies, in order for policy against declining birth rate in Japan to be more family-friendly and therefore be more effective in the long run

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