Henry Zimmerman · Phillips Academy Andover · Winter 2025

Changes in Japan's Labor and Immigration Policy Address Depopulation Concerns

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Abstract

This paper analyzes Japan's June 2024 expansion of its foreign worker visa program against the backdrop of decades of demographic decline, declining birth rates, and a shrinking labor supply. It surveys the policy responses considered over that period ("Womenomics," productivity reforms, the new visa legislation) and asks whether any combination of them can address a problem this ingrained in Japan's economy.

Keywords

Japan labor policy immigration depopulation demographics Womenomics

References

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© 2025 Henry Zimmerman. Published by the Andover Economic Review under a non-exclusive publication license; the author retains copyright. The repository's MIT license covers site code only, not article content.