China is the latest in a growing number of countries seeking ways to address declining fertility. The Asian giant recorded a population fall for the second consecutive year in 2023.
The Chinese Government also released figures showing annual marriage numbers had dropped to 6.83 million, the lowest level since 1986.
The figure was well below the 13.5 million peak in 2013.
Earlier this year the Chinese government also announced a policy to “strengthen reproductive support in rural villages”.
This was part of the clear pivot away from the “One Child” birth control policy which was in place from the 1980s until it was relaxed in 2013.
South Korea and Japan are facing similar fertility decline issues, creating major concerns about how future aging populations will be supported.
In an article published on the Human Rights Watch website, Associate Director Maya Wang said recent data showed a decline in fertility rates in the Chinese “countryside” as well as in the cities.
This was undermining the hope that rural birth rates could help counter the trends in urban areas.
Ms Wang said cultural and policy pressures, including financial considerations and traditional preferences for sons, contributed to rural women’s reluctance to have more children.
“Some rural women have expressed feminist sentiments and a desire to escape patriarchal constraints, leading to migration to urban areas,” she wrote.
“Many women are unwilling to conform to state-driven reproductive policies, likely including a recently announced policy to strengthen reproductive support in rural villages.”
Ms Wang said the number of women of childbearing age had been shrinking by around four to five million people every year since 2012.
“The cost of raising children, both in terms of the time and financial resources required, is a key reason why rural women are not having more children,” she said.
“This is something that they share with those in the cities. Women in the countryside have more of a voice now than they did in the past – not least because possible brides are now sought after by families, due to the gender imbalance that resulted from the One Child policy.
“This voice apparently includes decisions over whether to give birth, even in the face of pressure from parents and in-laws, who used to hold complete authority over the fate of married women.”
