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China population: ‘fully open childbirth’ policy needed as calls increase for census response
- China’s census confirmed that while the population continued to grow last year, the number of births fell to a 60-year low of 12 million in 2020
- China’s banking regulator has already announced it will pilot private pension products from June, but changes to family planning policies have yet to emerge
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Frank Tangin Beijing
Calls have increased for China to immediately adjust policies concerning birth control, its pension system and elderly care after last week’s population census confirmed the demographic threats facing the country’s growth and stability.
Official moves in response to the once-in-a-decade census have already begun in some sectors, with China’s banking regulator announcing at the weekend that it would pilot private pension products from June.
The gradual postponement of the retirement age has also been agreed in principle, but any immediate changes to decades- old family planning policies are yet to emerge.
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“We should fully open up childbirth. There’s no need to worry about excessive childbirths after control measures are abolished,” Lei Xiaoyan, a professor at Peking University’s National School of Development, said on Sunday.
Not many want to have a third child or more. The cost of giving birth, upbringing and education is a major reason
Last week, China’s census confirmed that while the overall population continued to grow to 1.412 billion in 2020, the number of births fell to a 60-year low of 12 million in 2020. The fertility rate, meaning the average number of children that would be born to a woman over her lifetime, was also only 1.3 – well below the replacement level of 2.1 needed to ensure a stable population.
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