Japan is considering coupons for parents :

ReutersFRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2006

Alarmed by its sliding birth rate and rapidly aging population, Japan is hoping the prospect of lower shopping bills will encourage couples to have larger families.

The government is considering issuing identity cards to families with children which would give discounts at stores cooperating with the program, the daily Yomiuri Shimbun reported Thursday.

The size of the discounts would be decided by the stores, which would also be expected to fund the system in return for favorable publicity surrounding the plan, the newspaper reported.

The government is also considering tax rebates as a way of reducing the economic burden on parents of young children, which is seen as one reason for the declining birth rate, the newspaper said.

Japan's fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime, fell to a postwar low of just under 1.29 in 2004.

Demographers say a rate of 2.1 is needed to keep a population from declining.

The population of Japan shrank in the year to October for the first time since 1945.