This book focuses on the high-income Asia that experienced fast economic growth and rapid demographic change in recent decades. High-income Asia includes Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, according to the World Bank s category classification. These economies enjoyed a brief period of brilliant economic growth but then faced a demographic shift, with the lowest fertility in the world.

For example, Japan today must confront difficult challenges such as how to balance childbirth and childcare with women s employment as its population rapidly ages a consequence that...