Image: STR (AFP)
Last year, the birth rate – the average number of children a woman has – fell to a record low of 1.09. This is the lowest among countries with a population of more than 100 million, the state-run newspaper National Business Daily said on Tuesday, citing the Center for Population and Development Research.
incentives to have children
Concerned about China’s first population decline in six decades and the rapidly aging population, the government in Beijing is trying to counteract this. Politicians have taken some measures to increase the birth rate – including financial incentives and improved child care. President Xi Jinping chaired a meeting to investigate the issue in May.
Which often clouds the desire to have children
The high cost of childcare and the need to often give up their careers prevent many women from having more children or having offspring at all. Gender discrimination and traditional notions of women caring for their children are still rife across the country. In recent months, the authorities have increasingly appealed to divide up the child-rearing obligation. However, paternity leave is still limited in most provinces.
Number of childless women more than doubled
Hong Kong’s Family Planning Association also said on Tuesday that the number of childless women in China’s special administrative region more than doubled to 43.2 percent in 2022 compared to five years ago. The proportion of couples with one or two children also fell, while the average number of children per woman fell from 1.3 in 2017 to a record low of 0.9 last year, according to the survey.
Source: Nachrichten
