Following a public backlash, China’s health authorities to remove propaganda suggesting that giving birth could make women smarter, prevent tumours and relieve menstrual cramps. The National Health Commission (NHC) made the claims in an article posted online on Wednesday to urge Chinese women to have children and combat a looming demographic crisis. But by Friday … Read more
BEIJING: China outlined steps on Monday (Oct 28) to improve family planning and parenting measures in an effort to boost the number of births, a statement from the state council, or Cabinet, showed, after two consecutive years of a shrinking population. The birth rate hit a record low last year in China, which has a population … Read more
Chinese grass roots government workers, who implemented decades of birth control policy, are now calling up women in their neighbourhood to urge them to get pregnant amid China’s demographic crisis. When Jane Huang picked up the phone to answer a call earlier this month, her first response to the person on the end was to … Read more
China’s top legislature has reviewed a plan to gradually raise the retirement age, months after the ruling Communist Party’s Central Committee proposed it be lifted in a “voluntary and flexible” way. The retirement age has been in place since 1951 and is among the lowest in the world. It is currently 60 for men, 55 … Read more
The document, published by state news agency Xinhua on Sunday, lists a wide range of reform objectives to be completed by 2029, including more than 300 policy measures. It said the government would move to raise the retirement age in an “orderly” and “gradual” way and seek to develop the “silver economy” to create diverse … Read more
The fertility rate in the United States dropped in 2023, after a slight two-year rebound that followed the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Provisional CDC data show that 3.59 million births were recorded in 2023, amounting to 54.4 live births per 1,000 females ages … Read more
“But now, births have been decreasing every year, beds have been cut back, and more and more doctors have had to change profession. But what can they do?” he wrote, jokingly suggesting they become vets. “Save obstetrics!” he pleaded on Weibo. Duan, who is director of the maternity ward at Shanghai No 1 Maternity Hospital, … Read more
In less than 550 years, all Japanese families will have the same surname, according to a new study. The research, published by Tohoku University’s Research Centre for Aged Economy and Society, argued that Japan’s current surname system threatens “individual dignity” and the loss of family identity. Current laws in Japan dictate that families should adopt … Read more
“As the pandemic gradually ends, the wedding industry has rebounded significantly, and there was a hot wave of consumption during the 2023 Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays,” He said in a blog post on Saturday, referring to a spike in spending during the eight-day holiday break in September and October last year. Wedding-related spending … Read more
NO APOLOGIES After decades of improving women’s education levels, workforce participation and social mobility, Chinese authorities now face a dilemma as the same group of women have become increasingly resistant to their propaganda. Long-term single lifestyles are gradually becoming more widespread in China, giving rise to online communities of mostly single women who seek solidarity … Read more
