To boost the birth rate, the Chinese president and the Communist Party are looking to women. The reasons for the plummeting birth rate are attributable to the one-child policy, the economic crisis China is going through, and a cultural change among the younger generations.
Highly educated and with many options before them, young women will no longer accept sacrificing their income while suffering the double burden of a job and housework. The government should initiate policies that reflect society’s changing values if it wants to raise the fertility rate.
China, a nation of 1.4 billion people, is facing a demographic dilemma. Its population is declining, ageing, and has more men than women. Together they present complex challenges for the world’s second-largest economy.