China’s fertility rate is expected to fall to a historic low of 1.09 in 2022, according to the National Business Daily, a figure that will undoubtedly irritate authorities as they try to increase the country’s dwindling number of new births.
According to the state-run Daily, China has the lowest fertility rate among countries with populations of more than 100 million, according to data from China’s Population and Development Research Center.
China already has one of the world’s lowest fertility rates, along with South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Concerned with China’s first population dip in six decades and its rapidly aging population, Beijing is rushing to implement a slew of birth-inducing policies, including financial incentives and expanded childcare facilities.
In May, President Xi Jinping oversaw a discussion on the subject.
China has stated that it will prioritize research, technology, and education to enhance population quality and work to maintain “moderate fertility” levels in the future to promote economic growth.
Many women have decided against having further children or any at all due to high childcare costs and having to give up their employment. The nation is still rife with gender discrimination and outdated notions about how mothers should raise their children.
Although authorities have been talking more recently about sharing the responsibility of raising children, most provinces still have strict restrictions on paternity leave.
In a separate statement on Tuesday, the Hong Kong Family Planning Association said that the proportion of childless women in the special Chinese administrative area more than quadrupled from five years earlier to 43.2% last year.
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According to its poll, the proportion of couples with one or two children fell as well, and the average number of children per woman fell from 1.3 in 2017 to a historic low of 0.9 last year.
