Japan is relatively a small country compared to the United States in terms of population and size. For instance, the U.S is the third most populous country in the world after China and India with over 320 million people while Japan is the tenth most populous nation with over 127 million people. The Japanese population is aging and shrinking at about 0.2% while the U.S. population is rising at about 0.7% with a working population rising at 0.2%. Further, the per capita income between the two nations remains similar irrespective of the contrasting population trends (Klitgaard & Mui, 2014).
Population has fluctuated in the United States over the past 30 years due to changing social and economic trends with most Americans preferring smaller families. As such the fluctuation of the population implies that most of those responsible for growth are immigrants. In Japan, the fluctuation in their population is due to delayed births and low birth rate.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The national birth rate in the United States has fluctuated over the last three decades among many of the different demographics in the country (Howe, 2015). Today, the fertility rate has declined to about 62 births in every 1,000 women. However, women between 30 and 40 years had increased birth rates, a steady trend in this segment since 1990 (Livingston, 2015).
Life expectancy in the United States has been improving over the last three decades and stood at 78.74 years in 2015. However, this is lower than in Japan where life expectancy is 83.8 years and even the United Kingdom with a life expectancy rate of 81.6 years( Klitgaard & Mui, 2014).
These fluctuations have a negative relationship with availability of basic and natural resources and per capita income. For instance, it implies that resources are getting scarce and expensive for many to afford while the per capita income remains constant over time.
References
Howe, N. (2015) U.S. Birthrate Falls-Again, Accessed from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2015/01/28/u-s-birthrate-falls-again/#43b9dc513bfe
Kaplan, K. (2017 June 30) Americans keep having fewer babies as U.S. birthrates hit some
record lows, Accessed from http://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-us-birth-rate-20170630-htmlstory.html
Klitgaard, T & Mui, P. (2014) Demographic Trends and Growth in Japan and the United States,
Accessed from http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2014/10/demographic-trends-and-growth-in-japan-and-the-united-states.html
Livingston, G. (2015) Is U.S. fertility at an all-time low? It depends, accessed from
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/02/24/is-u-s-fertility-at-an-all-time-low-it-depends/
