China - to allow couples to have up to 3 children due to low birth rate

Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

中国、夫婦に子ども３人まで容認　出生率低下を受け

2021.06.01 Tue posted at 08:45 JST

香港（ＣＮＮ） 中国共産党指導部は５月３１日の会議で、夫婦が３人目の子どもを持つことを認める決定を下した。国営新華社通信が伝えた。中国は近年、人口動態上の危機を回避しようとして家族計画政策を緩和している。

３人目の出産容認は、中国の人口高齢化に歯止めをかけるのが狙い。国営メディアは新政策の施行時期について報じなかった。

中国政府は３週間前、人口増加ペースがここ数十年で最も鈍化したことを示す２０２０年国勢調査の結果を公表していた。

中国国家統計局によると、過去１０年の人口の伸びはわずか５．３８％にとどまり、少なくとも１９６０年代以降で最もペースが鈍化したという。

中国では７９年に一人っ子政策が導入された。国が過剰人口対策と貧困緩和を試みる中で、夫婦は３５年以上にわたり子どもの数を１人に限定されていた。

ただ、近年は中国経済が好調で、人口動態上のニーズは変化している。現在、中国政府は高水準の経済成長を支えるために、膨大な若年労働力に依存している状況だ。

人口動態上の危機を防ごうと、中国政府は２０１５年に出産制限の緩和を発表し、１家族につき２人まで子どもを持つことを認めるとした。

ただ、こうした政策転換も出生率の向上にはつながらず、２０年の出生数は前年比１５％近く減少した。生活費が高騰している中国では、２人目を持つと費用がかかりすぎると話すカップルもいる。

同時に、中国の人口は急速に高齢化が進んでおり、経済成長が危うくなっている。２０年国勢調査のデータによると、６５歳以上の人口の割合はここ１０年で急速に増え、１０年の８．８７％から１３．５％に上昇した。

Translation

Hong Kong (CNN) - The Chinese Communist Party leadership decided at a meeting on May 31 to allow the couple to have a third child. State-owned Xinhua News Agency reported. In recent years, China has eased family planning policies in an attempt to avert a demographic crisis.

The third childbirth permission aimed at putting an end to the aging of China's population. The state media did not report when the new policy would come into effect.

Three weeks ago, the Chinese government released the results of the 2020 census which showed that the pace of population growth had slowed the most in decades.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics of China, population growth in the last decade had been only 5.38%, the slowest pace since the 1960s at least.

In China the one-child policy was introduced in 1979. Couples were limited to one child for over 35 years as the country attempted to combat overpopulation and alleviate poverty.

However, the Chinese economy had been booming in recent years and demographic needs were changing. Currently, the Chinese government was relying on a huge young workforce to support high level of economic growth.

To prevent a demographic crisis, the Chinese government announced in 2015 that it would ease childbirth restrictions, allowing up to two children per family.

However, such a policy change did not lead to an improvement in the birth rate, and the number of births in 2020 decreased by nearly 15% from the previous year. In China, where living costs were soaring, some couples said it would be too expensive to have a second person.

At the same time, China's population was aging rapidly, jeopardizing economic growth. According to data from the 2020 census, the proportion of the population aged 65 and over had increased rapidly in the last decade, rising from 8.87% in 2010 to 13.5%.

              So, China's population is aging rapidly and can jeopardize its economic growth. It is noted that a policy change in 2015 has not led to an improvement in the birth rate. Whether the coming policy change will improve the population situation remains to be seen.