(NewsNation) — Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged women to have more children as the nation grapples with an aging population and a record decline in the birth rate. Not all women agree with this, though.
According to National Bureau of Statistics data obtained by The Wall Street Journal, the number of births in China declined to 9.56 million in 2022, down from 10.62 million in 2021. The nation’s birthrate, the number of births per thousand people, dropped to 6.77 in 2022 compared to 7.52 in 2021, the data showed.
Despite the demands to have more children, women are saying no and putting themselves ahead of what Beijing wants, according to the Wall Street Journal, and their refusal has set off a crisis for the Communist Party.
China is pushing a “birth-friendly culture,” which has taken on the tone of an urgent national mission with government-organized matchmaking events and a program encouraging military families to have more babies.
In October, Xi said women must start a “new trend of family.” He told the All-China Women’s Federation, which operates under the Communist Party, to “prevent and resolve risks in the women’s field,” according to an official account of the speech.
He also said it’s necessary to “actively cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing and strengthen guidance on young people’s view on marriage, childbirth and family.”
Not wanting to get married, high child care costs, career hinderance and gender discrimination have deterred many young Chinese women from having children.
The number of births is linked closely to marriage rates due to official policies making it difficult for single women to have children.
In 2022, 6.8 million couples registered marriages, compared to 13 million in 2013, per the Wall Street Journal. China’s total fertility rate is approaching one birth per woman or 1.09. It decreased drastically from 1.30 in 2020, below the 2.1 needed to keep a stable population.
Over the last two years, authorities across China have unveiled measures to lift the country’s birth rate including financial incentives and boosting child care facilities.
Local governments are offering cash incentives for couples having a second or third child. Some cities have also asked unmarried citizens to register for government-sponsored eating initiatives that use data to find matches.
The shift has also caused some women to try to avoid punishment for having too many children to being hounded to have more.
More Chinese women have become more vocal about their relationships, family, and work experiences. Simona Dai started the “Oh! Mama” podcast about birth and marriage after she learned that her mother had an abortion when she was 8 1/2 months pregnant with a girl in the early 1990s.
Dai, 31, married when she was 26 and told The Wall Street Journal she had to endure her husband’s chauvinistic views, especially during the pandemic. It made her adamant about not having children despite pressure from their families. She’s since applied to end her marriage.
“If I didn’t divorce, I might have to have a baby,” Dai said.
People in China have complained on social media that getting a vasectomy appointment is as difficult as winning the lottery, per The Wall Street Journal. Officials have also tried to reduce abortions — they have fallen from more than 14 million in 1991 to 9 million in 2020. China has since stopped releasing vasectomy, tubal ligation and abortion data.
Reuters contributed to this story.