Link to Article: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-launches-survey-understand-fear-having-children-2024-10-18/
China has been experiencing a population decline for a few years now. China’s National Health Commission has begun surveying 30,000 Chinese people in the Oder to determine the factors influencing this decline, precisely what they call the “Fear surrounding having children.” The survey will include 150 counties in China and 1,500 differing communities. Ideally, once the survey is complete, the NHC can provide fertility support and incentives to increase birth rates and curb population declines. Health officials stated they primarily wanted to support increased birth rates among married couples at “appropriate ages” and to guide younger people to “positive perspectives on marriage, childbirth, and family.”
From the 1980s to 2016, China established the one-child policy. While an attempt to prevent overpopulation, the policy grossly backfired and led to population decline in China. Ever since, China has seemed to be scrambling to find a way to combat the decline. While China is the most well-known case, similar statistics of population decline have begun to crop up throughout the rest of the world. It would be unfair to say that the only reason China is facing the decline is because of the one-child policy, even if that was the sin perpetrator for the country. This survey could potentially help other countries combat their decline in population by providing complex data on people’s minds. Young Millennials and older Gen Z as they break out into adulthood and potentially start families.
While China is the main stakeholder, the data gathered from the survey could affect the entire world. Fertility rates have been dropping for the last 50 or so years, and many smaller countries, such as Japan, South Korea, and some Eastern European countries, have seen notional differences in population. While many have tried government incentives and initiatives to stop the decline, there has been little to no progress. However, a survey into the ology behind not having children could provide better insight into what needs to be done. Hopefully, the survey will help the Chinese government pinpoint what needs to be changed to stop the population loss.
It would be in China’s national interest to keep their population rates up. Along with the apparent loss of your country and culture, if there is no one to keep it going, there are economic reasons to keep the population up. Without replenishing the population, retirement ages could go up to keep things running, but when it comes to a point where a person can not work, younger people will be needed to take over jobs. If more people are dying than being born, it’s like that after a generation or two, there will not be enough people to work all necessary jobs. That would lead to an economic collapse and the destruction of an entire country.