To cope with the declining birth rate that is expected to drastically reduce the labor force in China in the coming years, the country is likely to turn to forced pregnancies and force couples to have children outright. .
As China faces a negative population growth scenario, the government has started forcing its citizens to marry early and have at least three children each. The administration also began throwing various contests as bait, Geo Politica reported.
The fierce opposition to having children comes as most expectant parents say they simply cannot secure enough financial security to look after their children’s well-being because their own lives are under so much pressure due to the forced quarantines and endless shutdowns.
Frustration at being forced to stay locked inside homes, food shortages, lack of income, rising prices, health issues, etc., have led to disillusionment among people in the country, said reported the Hong Kong Post.
He added that the Chinese government is beginning to realize that most citizens are agitated by the growing official pressure on them to have more children.
According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, in the six-year period between 2013 and 2019, the number of Chinese marriages dropped by 41 percent, with only 7.6 million couples registered for marriage last year. This is the lowest figure in 36 years. As a result, China’s birth rate fell to 7.5 births per 1,000 people.
Nine provinces and regions recorded negative population growth, the report added.
Another critical issue that makes Chinese people oppose having more children is that they remember the pain and torture they or their parents endured when the communist nation strictly enforced the ” one-child policy,” according to the media portal.
Forced abortions were the order of the day, the government determined when women could become pregnant, constantly monitored married couples and even fined and imprisoned those about to have a second child. Millions of abortions were performed during this time, which led to the government losing the trust of the people.
Moreover, the Chinese also point out that the government has not offered any policy changes to allow couples to have more children. Now, when the government wants more children, people don’t. A worried government is now trying to generate trust by having two-way communication on the need for more children to deal with the demographic crisis, the Hong Kong Post said, citing sources.
The government has launched several competitions in this regard, but the response is not enthusiastic as time is running out for the government.
If birth rates continue to decline, the labor force in China will also decline dramatically in the coming years as the number of young people in the country declines.
Moreover, due to the increased educational and economic development of Chinese women, their propensity to marry is even lower than that of men. Beijing last year released a new population and family planning law that allows Chinese couples to have three children, ostensibly responding to couples’ reluctance to have additional children due to rising costs.