新奇事件簿 日本儿童数量极低 老龄化严重（在线收听）

The number of children in Japan aged 14 and under is the lowest ever. Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications released figures yesterday, just before the country's Children's Day national holiday on May the 5th. The figures show that the number of children in Japan fell by 160,000 from the previous year. It is the 33rd year in a row for the birth rate to decrease. There are 13 million fewer children in Japan today than there were in 1950. The Ministry said that out of 30 countries with a population of over 40 million, Japan has the smallest percentage of kids. Children make up 12.8 per cent of Japan's population. In France, the figure is 18.5 per cent and in the United States, it is 19.5 per cent.

在日本,14岁及以下的儿童数量是最低的。日本内部事务和通讯部昨天发布了数据,正值日本国家节日5月5日儿童节的前一天。数据显示,日本的儿童人数比前一年减少了160,000人。这是连续33年出生率创的新低。日本现在的儿童数量比1950年减少了1,300万。外交部说,在人口超过4,000万的30个国家当中，日本是儿童占人口比例最小的国家。儿童数量占日本人口的12.8%。在法国,这个数字是18.5%,在美国,它是19.5%。

While the number of children in Japan is going down, the number of old people is increasing. The over-65s now make up a record 25.6 per cent of the Japanese population. The government has warned that these trends will continue for decades to come. It said the proportion of people aged 65 or over could reach nearly 40 per cent in 2060. This will make life in Japan almost impossible for young, working people. They will have to pay much higher taxes to support the over-65s. The Japanese economy will also be in big trouble because there will not be enough young people to work. Japan's government has tried many things to get people to have more babies, but nothing seems to be working.

而日本的儿童数量一直在下降,老年人的数量正在增加。现在日本65岁以上的人口占25.6%。政府已经警告说,这些趋势将持续几十年。它说65岁或以上的人口比例将达到2060年的近40%。这将使得日本的年轻人和工薪阶层的生活很困难。他们将不得不支付更高的税收来供养65岁以上的老人。日本经济也将陷入严重的困境，因为没有足够数量的年轻人来工作。日本政府尝试了很多方法来让人们生更多的孩子，但是效果不大。