New Outrage: "Japan's Deputy PM Blames Women 'Not Giving Birth' For Declining Population"

Japan’s gaffe-prone deputy prime minister, Taro Aso, has been forced to retract remarks that appeared to blame women who do not have children for problems associated with the country’s low birthrate and ageing population.

Aso, who doubles as finance minister, told a constituency meeting in Fukuoka, south-west Japan, at the weekend that older people were being unfairly singled out to explain the country’s demographic crisis.

“There are lots of weird people who say the elderly are at fault, but that’s incorrect,” Japanese media quoted him as saying. “Rather, those who aren’t giving birth to children are the problem.”

“The ageing population, combined with the diminishing number of children, is the grave issue in the mid and long term.”

Aso later withdrew the remarks after opposition MPs accused him of insensitivity towards couples who want to have children but are unable to do so.

The 78-year-old claimed media had taken his worlds out of context and that he had simple attempted to highlight the threat the declining birth rate poses to Japan’s economic health. But he added: “I’d like to withdraw my comments and will be careful with my words in the days ahead.”