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The Inquiry: Can China raise its birth rate?

Can China raise its birth rate?

22/07/2021 GMT

BBC World Service - The Inquiry, Can China raise its birth rate?

China wants to stop its workforce shrinking. So can it raise its birth rate?

China hopes to stop its workforce shrinking with a new three-child policy. But will couples actually want more children? Can China raise its birth rate?

China’s decades-long One Child Policy has led to a low birth rate, and a shrinking workforce.  It has also been placing a heavy burden on the younger generations who will have to support two parents and four grandparents.   It’s predicted that in five years’ time, a quarter of the population will be over 65.  With a smaller workforce, the country risks becoming poorer.

China tried to address the problem by allowing couples to have two children instead of one, but except for an initial uptick, the birth rate has continued to fall regardless. So now China has introduced a three-child policy.  But couples continue to worry about the lack of affordable childcare, and the high financial and emotional cost of raising children. So in this edition of The Inquiry, Tanya Beckett asks: can China raise its birth rate? 

Producer: Arlene Gregorius

(A mother and her child waving Chinese flags near Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China. Photo: Peter Parks/Getty Images)

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