Vietnam scraps 2-child policy as aging threatens economic growth

HANOI, Vietnam -- Vietnam has abolished its long-standing two-child bounds connected Tuesday to effort and reverse declining commencement rates and easiness the pressures of an aging population.

The National Assembly passed amendments scrapping rules that bounds families to having 1 oregon 2 children, authorities media Vietnam News Agency reported connected Wednesday.

Vietnamese families are having less children than ever before. The commencement complaint successful 2021 was 2.11 children per woman, conscionable implicit the replacement complaint required for a colonisation to debar shrinking implicit the agelong term. Since then, the commencement complaint has steadily declined: to 2.01 successful 2022, 1.96 successful 2023 and 1.91 successful 2024.

Vietnam isn’t the lone Asian state with debased fertility. But, dissimilar Japan, South Korea oregon Singapore, it is inactive a processing economy.

Nguyen Thu Linh, 37, a selling manager successful Vietnam's superior Hanoi, said that she and her hubby decided to person lone 1 kid due to the fact that she and her hubby wanted to guarantee that they could springiness their 6-year-old lad the champion acquisition and upbringing that they could afford.

"Sometimes, I deliberation astir having different kid truthful my lad tin person a sibling, but there's truthful overmuch fiscal and clip unit if you person different child.”

Vietnam introduced rules blocking families from having much than 2 children successful 1988, with the thought that women would walk little clip connected childcare and much clip working.

Vietnam’s “golden population” play — erstwhile moving property radical outnumber those who beryllium connected them — began successful 2007 and is expected to past until 2039. The fig of radical who tin enactment is apt to highest successful 2042 and, by 2054, the colonisation whitethorn commencement shrinking. All of this could marque it harder to turn the economy, since determination volition beryllium less workers portion the outgo of supporting the needs of the aged grows.

Birth rates successful Vietnam aren’t falling evenly. In Ho Chi Minh City — the country’s biggest metropolis and economical hub — the fertility complaint successful 2024 was conscionable 1.39 children per woman, overmuch little than the nationalist average. At the aforesaid time, astir 12% of the city’s colonisation was implicit 60, putting unit connected payment services. To help, section officials started offering astir $120 to women who person 2 children earlier turning 35 past December.

Vietnam is besides dealing with a unbalanced sex ratio, partially due to the fact that owed long-standing preferences for sons.

Doctors aren’t allowed to archer parents the baby’s enactment earlier birth, and sex-selective abortions are banned.

On Tuesday, the wellness ministry projected tripling the good for choosing a baby’s enactment earlier commencement to $3,800, authorities media reported.

China imposed a one-child policy successful 1979 amid worries astir overpopulation. But arsenic the state faces increasing concerns astir the semipermanent economical and societal challenges of an aging population, it has been dilatory easing the argumentation to let a 2nd kid and past a 3rd kid successful 2021, but with little success astatine boosting birthrates.