{"id":3179,"date":"2023-01-17T11:54:54","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T11:54:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/londonpost.news\/?p=3179"},"modified":"2023-03-23T18:51:20","modified_gmt":"2023-03-23T18:51:20","slug":"chinas-first-population-decline-in-60-years-raises-alarm-bells-of-demographic-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/magazine\/health-and-lifestyle\/chinas-first-population-decline-in-60-years-raises-alarm-bells-of-demographic-crisis\/2023\/01\/17\/admin1\/","title":{"rendered":"China’s first population decline in 60 years raises alarm bells of demographic crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

BEIJING\/HONG<\/span> KONG<\/span> (Reuters)<\/span> Jan,17–<\/span> China’s<\/span> population<\/span> fell<\/span> last<\/span> year<\/span> for<\/span> the<\/span> first<\/span> time<\/span> in<\/span> 60<\/span> years.<\/span> This<\/span> is<\/span> a<\/span> historic<\/span> turning<\/span> point<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> beginning<\/span> of<\/span> a<\/span> long-term<\/span> population<\/span> decline,<\/span> which<\/span> is<\/span> expected<\/span> to<\/span> have<\/span> a<\/span> serious<\/span> impact<\/span> on<\/span> the<\/span> demographic<\/span> economy.<\/span> \u00a0
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> National<\/span> Bureau<\/span> of<\/span> Statistics<\/span> of<\/span> China<\/span> reported<\/span> that<\/span> about<\/span> 850,000<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> population<\/span> of<\/span> 1,411.75<\/span> million<\/span> will<\/span> decline<\/span> in<\/span> 2022.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>This<\/span> makes<\/span> India<\/span> possibly<\/span> the<\/span> most<\/span> populous<\/span> country<\/span> in<\/span> the<\/span> world.<\/span> UN<\/span> experts<\/span> last<\/span> year<\/span> predicted<\/span> that<\/span> India’s<\/span> population<\/span> would<\/span> reach<\/span> her<\/span> 1.412<\/span> billion<\/span> by<\/span> 2022,<\/span> but<\/span> did<\/span> not<\/span> expect<\/span> the<\/span> South<\/span> Asian<\/span> nation<\/span> to<\/span> overtake<\/span> China<\/span> by<\/span> this<\/span> year.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>However,<\/span> India<\/span> only<\/span> collects<\/span> population<\/span> figures<\/span> every<\/span> 10<\/span> years,<\/span> and<\/span> the<\/span> final<\/span> census,<\/span> originally<\/span> scheduled<\/span> for<\/span> 2021,<\/span> has<\/span> been<\/span> delayed<\/span> due<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> pandemic.<\/span> Longer<\/span> term,<\/span> UN<\/span> experts<\/span> expect<\/span> China’s<\/span> population<\/span> to<\/span> fall<\/span> by<\/span> 109<\/span> million<\/span> by<\/span> 2050.<\/span> That’s<\/span> more<\/span> than<\/span> triple<\/span> her<\/span> previous<\/span> forecast<\/span> decline<\/span> in<\/span> 2019.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> number<\/span> of<\/span> Chinese<\/span> women<\/span> of<\/span> childbearing<\/span> age,<\/span> defined<\/span> by<\/span> the<\/span> government<\/span> as<\/span> ages<\/span> 25<\/span> to<\/span> 35,<\/span> has<\/span> dropped<\/span> by<\/span> about<\/span> 4<\/span> million,<\/span> Kang<\/span> said.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Her<\/span> highest<\/span> death<\/span> rate<\/span> since<\/span> 1974<\/span> during<\/span> the<\/span> Cultural<\/span> Revolution<\/span> was<\/span> her<\/span> 7.37<\/span> deaths<\/span> per<\/span> 1,000,<\/span> compared<\/span> to<\/span> her<\/span> 7.18<\/span> death<\/span> rate<\/span> in<\/span> 2021.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Much<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> population<\/span> decline<\/span> is<\/span> a<\/span> result<\/span> of<\/span> China’s<\/span> one-child<\/span> policy<\/span> from<\/span> 1980<\/span> to<\/span> 2015<\/span> and<\/span> soaring<\/span> education<\/span> costs,<\/span> which<\/span> discouraged<\/span> many<\/span> Chinese<\/span> from<\/span> having<\/span> more<\/span> than<\/span> one<\/span> child<\/span> or<\/span> never<\/span> having<\/span> children<\/span> at<\/span> all.<\/span> It<\/span> has<\/span> even<\/span> discouraged<\/span> me.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> one-child<\/span> policy<\/span> and<\/span> traditional<\/span> preferences<\/span> for<\/span> boys<\/span> also<\/span> create<\/span> a<\/span> severe<\/span> gender<\/span> imbalance.<\/span> According<\/span> to<\/span> the<\/span> latest<\/span> data,<\/span> there<\/span> are<\/span> about<\/span> 722<\/span> million<\/span> men<\/span> in<\/span> China<\/span> and<\/span> 690<\/span> million<\/span> women.<\/span> A<\/span> more<\/span> pronounced<\/span> imbalance<\/span> in<\/span> rural<\/span> areas<\/span> has<\/span> led<\/span> to<\/span> a<\/span> decline<\/span> in<\/span> family<\/span> composition<\/span> in<\/span> recent<\/span> years.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>The<\/span> data<\/span> was<\/span> the<\/span> hottest<\/span> topic<\/span> on<\/span> Chinese<\/span> social<\/span> media<\/span> after<\/span> the<\/span> numbers<\/span> were<\/span> released<\/span> on<\/span> Tuesday.The<\/span> hashtag<\/span> “#Does<\/span> having<\/span> children<\/span> really<\/span> matter?”<\/span> has<\/span> had<\/span> hundreds<\/span> of<\/span> millions<\/span> of<\/span> hits.<\/span> \u00a0
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>“The<\/span> main<\/span> reason<\/span> why<\/span> women<\/span> don’t<\/span> want<\/span> children<\/span> is<\/span> not<\/span> for<\/span> their<\/span> own<\/span> sake,<\/span> but<\/span> because<\/span> society<\/span> and<\/span> men<\/span> are<\/span> not<\/span> responsible<\/span> for<\/span> raising<\/span> children.<\/span> For<\/span> women<\/span> who<\/span> give<\/span> birth,<\/span> it<\/span> leads<\/span> to<\/span> a<\/span> severe<\/span> decline<\/span> in<\/span> quality<\/span> of<\/span> life<\/span> and<\/span> mental<\/span> life,”<\/span> wrote<\/span> a<\/span> netizen<\/span> who<\/span> goes<\/span> by<\/span> the<\/span> username<\/span> Joyful<\/span> Ned.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Chinese<\/span> netizens<\/span> have<\/span> also<\/span> previously<\/span> complained<\/span> about<\/span> pressure<\/span> on<\/span> newlyweds<\/span> to<\/span> conceive<\/span> as<\/span> soon<\/span> as<\/span> possible,<\/span> saying<\/span> they<\/span> regularly<\/span> receive<\/span> phone<\/span> calls<\/span> from<\/span> local<\/span> governments<\/span> asking<\/span> when<\/span> they<\/span> can<\/span> get<\/span> pregnant.<\/span> are<\/span> reporting.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>A<\/span> demographic<\/span> expert<\/span> said<\/span> China’s<\/span> three-year<\/span> stringent<\/span> zero-COVID<\/span> policy<\/span> has<\/span> further<\/span> weakened<\/span> the<\/span> country’s<\/span> demographic<\/span> outlook.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Local<\/span> governments<\/span> are<\/span> introducing<\/span> measures<\/span> to<\/span> encourage<\/span> people<\/span> to<\/span> have<\/span> more<\/span> babies,<\/span> including<\/span> tax<\/span> cuts,<\/span> extended<\/span> maternity<\/span> leave<\/span> and<\/span> housing<\/span> allowances,<\/span> starting<\/span> in<\/span> 2021.<\/span> President<\/span> Xi<\/span> Jinping<\/span> also<\/span> said<\/span> in<\/span> his<\/span> October<\/span> The<\/span> government<\/span> said<\/span> it<\/span> would<\/span> take<\/span> more<\/span> measures<\/span> to<\/span> help.<\/span> But<\/span> the<\/span> steps<\/span> taken<\/span> so<\/span> far<\/span> have<\/span> done<\/span> little<\/span> to<\/span> stop<\/span> the<\/span> long-term<\/span> trend.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>Online<\/span> searches<\/span> for<\/span> strollers<\/span> on<\/span> Chinese<\/span> search<\/span> engine<\/span> Baidu<\/span> are<\/span> down<\/span> 17%<\/span> in<\/span> 2022,<\/span> down<\/span> 41%<\/span> since<\/span> 2018,<\/span> and<\/span> searches<\/span> for<\/span> baby<\/span> bottles<\/span> have<\/span> fallen<\/span> by<\/span> more<\/span> than<\/span> a<\/span> third<\/span> since<\/span> 2018.<\/span> .<\/span> In<\/span> contrast,<\/span> the<\/span> number<\/span> of<\/span> searches<\/span> for<\/span> nursing<\/span> homes<\/span> has<\/span> recently<\/span> increased<\/span> eightfold<\/span> over<\/span> the<\/span> course<\/span> of<\/span> the<\/span> year.<\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>In<\/span> India,<\/span> it’s<\/span> the<\/span> opposite,<\/span> with<\/span> searches<\/span> for<\/span> baby<\/span> bottles<\/span> growing<\/span> 15%<\/span> year-on-year<\/span> in<\/span> 2022,<\/span> and<\/span> searches<\/span> for<\/span> cribs<\/span> almost<\/span> quintuple,<\/span> according<\/span> to<\/span> Google<\/span> Trends.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEIJING\/HONG KONG (Reuters) Jan,17– China’s population fell last year for the first time in 60 years. This is a historic turning point and the beginning of a long-term population decline, which is expected to have a serious impact on the demographic economy. \u00a0 The National Bureau of Statistics of China reported that about 850,000 of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":""},"categories":[562,2407,2425],"tags":[152,739,803,804,805,806,807],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/CGINA.jpg","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3179"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3179"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3184,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3179\/revisions\/3184"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brusselsindependent.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}