The Birth rate in China fell 10% last year to the lowest level on record, despite a plethora of official attempts to encourage parents and growing concern that the country could become demographically imbalanced.
According to the National Health Commission estimate, China could have only 9.56 million births in 2022. It was the lowest figure recorded since records 1949.
High childcare and school expenditures, rising unemployment and job uncertainty, and gender discrimination have all contributed to many young couples not having more than one child or even having children at all.
The country’s population declined for the first time in six decades last year, falling to 1.41 billion people.
Domestic demographers are worried that China may become old before it becomes rich, stalling the economy as revenues fall and government debt rises due to rising health and welfare costs.
Much of the demographic fall is the result of China’s one-child policy, which was implemented between 1980 and 2015, though the policy’s repeal is having an effect.
Health officials stated that nearly 40% of Chinese infants last year were the second child of a married couple, while 15% came from households with three or more children.
To boost the country’s dwindling birth rate, Beijing has implemented a slew of policies, including increased childcare and financial incentives, and President Xi Jinping presided over a meeting to into the issue in May.
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