Chaired by Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, the council for Japan's Priority Strategies to Support Children and Families has issued a draft report requesting a funding increase of more than 56% up to \6.77 trillion ($US61.5 million) to boost Japan's low birthrate.

The money, to be spent at local and national levels, is to be used to help parents strike a better balance between work and child-rearing, increasing child-care and other individual allowances, and preparing local child-care support centers.

In addition, the report calls for establishment of an integrated national support system for people raising the next generation of children, clarifying the legal status of entities providing temporary child-care services, and institutionalizing a program for caregivers who accept the children of other people into their homes.

The report requires that the financing not be passed on to the next generation, and calls for a new scheme for central and local governments, businesses and individuals to bear the burden with a view to tax reform.