World | Japan In Japan, Elders Outnumber Kids Too many senior citizens, not enough children means trouble ahead By Nick McMaster Posted May 6, 2008 1:16 PM CDT Copied Children wearing Boston Red Sox-colored T-shirts clown around with the team's mascot Wally at dugout before a baseball clinic at Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, Monday, March 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) Monday was Children’s Day in Japan, but the holiday has a bitter irony in a land where the number of children has been waning for 27 years. Kids account for only 13.5% of Japan’s population, while the elderly make up 22%, the Washington Post reports. The steady population shrinkage will have drastic effects. By 2050, Japan will have lost 70% of its labor force, and at the current rate, in a century the country will have only one-third of its current population. Read These Next Mark Zuckerberg's 'list' has Silicon Valley buzzing. Tillis, who opposes Trump bill, won't seek reelection. Hall of Famer Dave Parker dies Musk renews attack on Trump's bill. Report an error