China tells women to have children, but its population declines again

HONG KONG – China’s ruling Communist Party is facing a national emergency.

To solve this problem, the party wants more women to have more children.

He offered them incentives, such as cheaper housing, tax breaks and cash.

He also appealed to patriotism, asking them to be “good wives and mothers”.

The efforts are not working.

Chinese women have shunned marriage and children at such a rapid rate that China’s population shrank for the second consecutive year in 2023, accelerating the process of feeling of crisis of the government on the rapid aging of the country’s population and its economic future.

China said on Wednesday that 9.02 million children were born in 2023, down from 9.56 million in 2022 and the seventh consecutive year the number has been declining.

Along with the number of people who died during the year – 11.1 million – China did elder than anywhere else in the world, a figure that is increasing rapidly.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, as of the end of 2023, China’s total population was 1,409,670,000.

The shrinking and aging population worries Beijing because it is draining China of the working-age people it needs to revive the economy.

The demographic crisis, which arrived sooner than almost everyone expected, is already putting a strain on weak and underfunded health and pension systems.

China accelerated the problem with its one-child policy, which helped reduce the birth rate for several decades.

The rule also created generations of one-child girls who were given educational and work opportunities, a cohort who became empowered women who now see Beijing’s efforts as a way to push them to return home.

Xi JinpingChina’s top leader has long spoken of the need for women to return to more traditional roles at home.

Strategy

He recently urged government officials to promote a “culture of marriage and motherhood” and influence what young people think about “love and marriage, fertility and family.”

But experts say these efforts aren’t aimed at addressing a reality that shapes women’s views on parenting:

deeply rooted gender inequality.

Laws intended to protect women and their property and ensure their equal treatment have failed.

“In our country, women still don’t feel safe enough to have children,” says Rashelle Chen, a social media professional in the southern province of Guangdong. Chen, 33, has been married for five years and said so I had no intention of having a child..

“It seems that the government’s birth policy is only aimed at making babies, but does not protect the person giving birth,” he said.

“It does not protect the rights and interests of women.”

State-sponsored propaganda campaigns and meetings encourage young people to marry and have children.

In China it is not common for unmarried couples or singles to have children.

State media is full of calls for young Chinese people to play a role in the “rejuvenation of the nation.”

The message has been received by parents, many of whom already share traditional views on marriage.

Chen’s parents are sometimes so angry about her decision not to have children that they cry on the phone.

“We’re not your parents anymore,” they tell him.

Emancipated women

Today, Chinese women are more aware of their rights thanks to growing reports of sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace.

Authorities have tried to silence China’s feminist movement, but its ideas about equality remain widespread.

“Over the past 10 years, a huge community of feminists has been created through the Internet,” said Zheng Churan, a Chinese women’s rights activist, who was detained along with four other activists on the eve of International Women’s Day. Women in 2015.

“Women today have more power,” Zheng said.

Censorship has silenced much debate on women’s issues, sometimes shutting down public debate about sexual discrimination, harassment or gender-based violence.

However, women were able to share their experiences online and offer support to victims, Zheng said.

On paper, China has laws to promote gender equality. For example, employment discrimination based on gender, race, or ethnicity is illegal.

In practice, companies target male applicants and discriminate against female employees, says Guo Jing, an activist who has helped provide legal support to women who face discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace.

“In a way, women are more aware of gender inequality in all areas of life,” Guo said.

“It remains difficult for women to get justice, even in court.”

In 2014, she sued a state-owned company, Dongfang Cooking Training School, after she was told not to apply for a job because she was a woman.

He won, but he only got a few $300 compensation.

There has recently been an increase in social media posts and articles regarding acts of violence against women, such as the savage beating of several women in a restaurant in Tangshan and the story of a mother of eight children who was found chained to the wall of a hut.

Women often cite these types of violent acts when talking about why they don’t want to get married.

Changes

Another reason is changes in policies and regulations, including a new rule requiring a 30-day cooling-off period before civil divorces can be final.

he Imarriage rate It has been declining for nine years.

According to government statistics, this trend, once limited mainly to cities, has spread to rural areas as well.

Another reason women say they don’t want to get married is that it is increasingly difficult to get a divorce in court if it is contested.

An analysis of nearly 150,000 court rulings on divorce cases conducted by Ethan Michelson, a professor at Indiana University, found that 40 percent of divorce petitions filed by women were dismissed by a judge, often when there was no evidence of domestic violence.

“There have been so many strong signals from above, from Xi himself, that the family is the foundation of Chinese society and that family stability is the foundation of social stability and national development,” Michelson said.

“There is no doubt that these signals have strengthened the judges’ tendencies,” he said.

Popular sayings on the Internet – like “a marriage license has become a license to paste“, or worse – are reinforced by the news.

In one of many similar cases last summer, a woman in the northwestern province of Gansu was denied a divorce despite evidence of domestic abuse; The judge said the couple should stay together for their children.

Another woman from the southern city of Guangzhou was killed by her husband during a 30-day cooling-off period.

In 2011, a Supreme People’s Court ruled that family homes would no longer be divided in the event of divorce, but would be given to the person whose name was on the deed, a decision that favored men.

“That decision scared a lot of women in China,” says Leta Hong Fincher, author of Leftover Women:

The resurgence of gender inequality in China.

That feeling of panic hasn’t gone away.

“Instead of receiving more care and protection, mothers become more vulnerable to abuse and isolation,” says Elgar Yang, a 24-year-old journalist from Shanghai.

Government policies that try to lure women into marriage, she added, “even make me feel like it’s a trap.”

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