This precipitous decline is no indication that the Japanese have lost their love for children. Quite the contrary, virtually all young Japanese couples claim to want children, and even screaming babies on a bus or train elicit smiles of sympathy from fellow travelers. The reason for the declining birth rate is that Japanese women display unprecedented reluctance to marry. Back in 1970, only 20 percent of Japanese women reaching the age of thirty had yet to wed; today, that share has doubled to 40 percent.
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