China can boost births by improving living standards, demographer says

Cai Fang, with the CASS, also points to an ‘urgent need’ to make basic public services widely available

He says extremely low fertility rate would improve with a better score on the UNDP’s Human Development Index

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There were just over seven babies born per 100 people in mainland China last year, a record low. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 12:00pm, 31 Mar 2022

China has “great potential” for a higher fertility rate if the standard of living and access to public services are improved, according to a leading demographer

In an article in The Beijing News on Wednesday, Cai Fang, a demographic economist with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, also said there was an “urgent need” to improve basic public services and make them available to everyone to address the extremely low fertility rate.

While the trend of lower fertility rates has been seen across Asia – linked to factors such as urbanisation and female empowerment – the decline has been steep in China in recent years, partly due to the cost and pressures of raising children.

According to the latest official data, there were just over seven babies born per 100 people in mainland China in 2021 – a record low. The fertility rate, or the number of children per woman, is now 1.3. That is below the level in Japan, a rapidly ageing population like China, and below the replacement rate of 2.1.

China is facing a major demographic challenge as the working-age population shrinks, with over-60s expected to make up a third of the population by 2050, and there are concerns that the ageing society and declining births could threaten future economic growth.

To tackle the problem, Beijing abandoned its decades-long one-child policy in 2015, allowing couples to have two children, then expanded that to three children last year. But many young people say they are deterred by the high costs of raising children, and a lack of government support.

There have been moves to change this, including with more parental leave in some places and the introduction in January of a monthly tax deduction of 1,000 yuan (US$157) per child under three to help ease the financial burden.

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China can boost births by improving living standards, demographer says

Cai Fang, with the CASS, also points to an ‘urgent need’ to make basic public services widely available He says extremely low fertility rate would improve with a better score on the UNDP’s Human Development Index

Cai Fang, with the CASS, also points to an ‘urgent need’ to make basic public services widely available

He says extremely low fertility rate would improve with a better score on the UNDP’s Human Development Index