Although the one-child policy has been gone for several years and subsequent policies are working to encourage couples to have more children, China’s birthrate continues to drop, sparking bleak economic forecasts in subsequent decades for itself and other countries with similar numbers. Recently, one of the country’s advisory bodies argued that the country’s labor force will decrease by 100 million people every 15 years, starting in 2020. Surveys show that Chinese couples interested in having more than one baby often choose not to for financial reasons, causing some policy analysts to argue for increased financial incentives for parents. China’s birth rate in 2018 stood at around 11 babies per thousand people, well below replacement rates but still higher than rates in Iran, Europe, South Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan.
Source: China’s birth rate falls to lowest in 70 years – Asia Times
