Measures include improved maternal healthcare and efforts to reduce abortions as China seeks to reverse declining population growth
The high cost of living, delayed marriages and lack of social mobility are frequently cited as contributing factors to young Chinese people’s reluctance to have children, as well as the lingering impact of the government’s decades-long one-child policy, which included forced abortions.
In recent years, the government has lifted limits on the number of children a couple can have, introduced tax deductions and other incentives, and sought to address the high cost of raising a child, including by, in effect, shutting down the private tutoring industry. Yi Fuxian, an obstetrics and gynaecology researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, suggested Chinese authorities were having trouble shifting from the policy setting where a pregnancy was considered a burden, to one where it is a contributor to the country’s wealth.
The rollout of domestic policies was having little effect, Yi said, because couples did not want to have children, could not afford to, or were leaving marriage so late that they found themselves unable to. “All economic and social policies have revolved around mainstream families with only one child … so young people protest by not having children, and Shanghai youth shout ‘we are the last generation’,” Yi said. “Only after making up for each shortcoming can the fertility rate be increased.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Australian beef exporters alarmed by reports of new China banThey are scrambling to investigate the rumours that Beijing may outlaw meat imports, as well as grain and dairy, due to fears about foot and mouth disease.
Read more »
Commodities sink as China reignites growth fearsOil prices dropped to a six-month low and iron ore fell towards $US100 a tonne as concerns intensified that China’s recovery has stalled.
Read more »
China rations electricity to factories as heatwave sees power demand surgeMove likely to hit output of lithium, used in electric car batteries, from factories in Sichuan where temperatures sit above 40 degrees
Read more »
Albanese: China has no justification to ban Aussie beefPrime Minister Anthony Albanese says China has no 'justification' to use Foot and Mouth Disease - which hasn't been detected in Australia for over a century - as a reason to ban Aussie beef.
Read more »