Last Update: February 12, 2023, 23:10 IST
According to a survey cited by state broadcaster CCTV, the average Chinese household shrank to 2.62 people in 2020, a decrease of 0.48 from 2010. (Picture: AFP)
Speaking at the Third China and Development Forum in Beijing, Wang cited the growing propensity to have children among the younger generation. He called for more incentives around employment, medical care, social security and housing that could encourage people to have families.
A Chinese family planning expert said China should encourage people to start families and boost the birth rate as the country’s declining population could threaten the world’s second-largest economy.
Mainland China’s population fell by 850,000 last year, the first drop since 1961, to 1.42 billion, the government said last month, potentially falling behind India as the world’s largest population, in deep trouble for its economy and the world. The start of a possible long downtrend with an effect of .
Wang Pei’an, deputy director of the China Family Planning Association, said on Saturday that more tax incentives based on the family unit should be created to encourage births.
Speaking at the Third China and Development Forum in Beijing, Wang cited the growing propensity to have children among the younger generation. He called for more incentives around employment, medical care, social security and housing that could encourage people to have families.
The government imposed a one-child policy on families in most parts of the country between 1980 and 2015, but with the population in decline, officials are scrambling to boost the birth rate.
In calls for more supportive measures, health officials cite factors such as concerns over expenses and younger women focusing on careers.
According to a survey cited by state broadcaster CCTV, the average Chinese household shrank to 2.62 people in 2020, a decrease of 0.48 from 2010.
A 2021 survey found that women born in the 1990s felt the ideal number of children was 1.54, compared to just 1.19 for those born in the 2000s. The percentage of women who have never had children increased from 6.1% in 2015 to nearly 10% in 2020.
“The level of maternity protection in China is still very low,” Wang said.
According to CCTV, the average age of a woman’s first marriage increased from 22 in the 1980s to 26.3 in 2020, and the age of first childbearing increased to 27.2 years.
Wang pointed to a 2021 survey by the China Population and Development Research Center that showed less than 70% of women under the age of 35 said life is complete only when one has children.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)