Many young couples in China are shunning government handouts and incentives to live a life unburdened by children, and the falling birth rate has economic implications that could span decades.
A loving Chinese man who sweetly comforted his wife when the full-time mother had an emotional breakdown due to the stress of looking after their children has won widespread praise online.
Chinese social media observers have rounded on mother and father who scolded their 14-year-old son for not trying hard enough at school despite him coming fourth in a class exam, forcing him to run away from home.
Urgent steps must be taken to prevent China’s population from ‘spiralling out of control’, says director of the department overseeing population and family development.
China’s older generation invested relatively heavily in property, buying up homes and flats in the hope that they would appreciate greatly over the years, but Generation Z appears to have a different perspective.