TOKYO -- Japan's Upper House of Parliament passed into law Wednesday a measure that commits the government to spending more to boost the nation's record low birthrate, a parliamentary official said.

The bill had the support of the leading opposition Democratic Party and passed with 213 votes in favor and 15 against, the official said.

The legislation provides for the creation of a policy panel headed by the prime minister charged with lifting the birth rate and commits the government to spend money to do so without specifying an amount, another official said.

"The government's commitment to reducing the economic burden, including for couples receiving fertility treatment and for childcare, is made clear in the bill," said official Masashi Kubota.

Some opposition lawmakers opposed the bill however, "because there were fears this would be a backward step to the pre-war days when the government ordered people to have more babies," Kubota said.

The legislation paves the way for a health ministry proposal to spend an extra 250 billion yen (2.1 billion dollars) next year on birth-boosting measures.

The ministry plans to pay 100,000 yen a year to couples receiving fertility treatment and raise the age limit for payment of child allowances to nine years from six.

The proposal has received the approval of the ruling coalition parties but still requires the finance ministry's green light before taking effect next April.

Japan registered a record low 1.15 million births last year, with the fertility rate falling to 1.33 children per woman, AFP reported.

The health ministry announced last year that the population would decrease from a peak of 127.8 million in 2006 because there were too few births.

But worries have emerged the population will peak sooner because of the fall in births recently.