Lower living costs to boost birth rate: China Daily contributor

According to a report issued on Monday , the number of new births on the Chinese mainland in 2021 was 10.62 million, compared with about 12 million in 2020. It also has a record low fertility rate of 7.52 births per 1,000 people. This means China is facing the biggest demographic challenge in modern times.

However, new births and the fertility rate have continued to decline since 1949, except for the three baby booms. Actually, China's birth rate in 2021 was much lower than the global population outlook forecasted by the United Nations in 2019, and also lower than those of many developed countries. Also, the falling fertility rate means further shrinking of the demographic dividends and inadequate resources to meet China's development demands.

As for benefits, children carry forward the family name and can help strengthen the bond between a husband and wife. And having children gives an assurance to parents that they will have someone to fall back on when they grow old. Moreover, the high cost of education, due mainly to the imbalanced distribution of education resources no matter in urban or rural areas, discourages many couples to have more children. The intense competition to get children admitted to the best schools means parents need to spend huge amounts of money and energy on their kids' education.

Housing is another big problem that couples, particularly young couples living in cities, face. According to official data, housing cost accounts for the highest percentage of household expenses for an average family. The more children a family has, the more rooms or bigger apartments it needs, so the fertility rate is relatively higher in areas with lower housing prices.

But traditionally, mothers have been sharing most of the responsibilities of raising a child, which makes it difficult for women to balance family and job. Many even pay a penalty for giving birth in the form of wage cut, demotion or dismissal from service. And due to the rising numbers of well-educated and financially independent women, quite a few women consider marriage more of an option than a necessity.

straits_times That's very good and well intended. Hopefully it succeed. SG under LHL is 'smarter'. He simply opened up the gate to let in more foreigners - Importation. Fast, Cheap, can inflate property prices increase cost of living, GDP - his been laughing to the Banks!! Low Lying Fruit 😂

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