State-run newspaper in China makes rare criticism of authorities, slamming ‘superstitious' reasoning for falling births
Family planning commission said women avoiding giving birth during the Year of the Sheep partly explained the lower number of babies born in 2015
A state-run newspaper in China on Friday strongly criticised the family planning authorities for “superstition” after they blamed the inauspicious Year of the Sheep for births falling in 2015 despite a loosening of the one-child policy.
China for decades restricted most couples to a single offspring through often brutally enforced rules and a system of fines for violators.
READ MORE: Beijing unfazed by drop in births despite ending the one-child policy
The authorities long argued that it was a key contributor to China’s economic boom, but with the population ageing, the workforce shrinking and severe gender imbalances it has been loosened in recent years, culminating in a two-child law that took effect earlier this month.
But total births fell by 320,000 last year to 16.55 million, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed this week.
Many parents say they are reluctant to have more children because of the cost.
A National Health and Family Planning Commission official attributed the decline partly to it being the Year of the Sheep in the Chinese zodiac. Most of those born in it will be unhappy in life, according to traditional beliefs still held by some.
The official also attributed the reduction to a fall of about five million in the number of women of childbearing age.