More Chinese women delay or give up on having babies after zero-Covid ordeal | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Friday
July 25, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • Subscribe
    • Get the Paper
    • Epaper
    • GOVT. Ad
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
FRIDAY, JULY 25, 2025
More Chinese women delay or give up on having babies after zero-Covid ordeal

World+Biz

Reuters 
09 August, 2022, 10:05 am
Last modified: 09 August, 2022, 10:10 am

Related News

  • Chinese medical team arrives in Dhaka to treat Milestone crash victims
  • Dhaka always wanted good working relationship with Delhi: Foreign adviser
  • Britain and India sign free trade pact during Modi visit
  • Man arrested for running fake embassy in India, duping people with job promises
  • China's Xi calls for 'proper handling of frictions' at tense summit with EU officials

More Chinese women delay or give up on having babies after zero-Covid ordeal

China population seen shrinking in 2023, India to overtake

Reuters 
09 August, 2022, 10:05 am
Last modified: 09 August, 2022, 10:10 am
An elderly woman pushes two babies in a stroller in Beijing, 30 October, 2015. Photo: Reuters
An elderly woman pushes two babies in a stroller in Beijing, 30 October, 2015. Photo: Reuters

Seeing Chinese authorities exercise extraordinary powers during a stringent Covid-19 lockdown in Shanghai earlier this year altered Claire Jiang's life plans: she no longer wants to have babies in China.

During the April-May lockdown, the hashtag "we are the last generation" briefly went viral on Chinese social media before being censored.

The phrase echoed the response of a man who was visited by authorities in hazmat suits threatening to punish his family for three generations for non-compliance with Covid rules.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

"That really resonated," said Jiang, who internalised the man's remark as her own answer to the motherhood question.

"I definitely don't want my children to have to carry the uncertainty of living in a country where the government can just come to your door and do whatever they want," said the 30-year-old, who works in the media industry.

Studies have shown that pandemics and economic uncertainty historically weigh on birth rates around the world.

But, particular to China, its uncompromising "zero-Covid" policy of promptly stamping out any outbreaks with strict controls on people's lives may have caused profound damage on their desire to have children, demographers say.

Accounts of people losing income or not having access to healthcare or food, or of authorities forcefully entering homes to take people to quarantine centres, including elderly and children, abounded during lockdowns in Shanghai and elsewhere.

Demographers say people's feelings of losing control over their lives from events like those can have major consequences on parenthood goals.

"China is obviously big government and small family," said prominent Chinese demographer Yi Fuxian. "China's zero-Covid policy has led to a zero economy, zero marriages, zero fertility."

China's National Health Commission and its Family Planning Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Bad signs
Chinese authorities have repeatedly said zero-Covid is necessary to save lives, pointing to the millions of deaths around the world compared to only 5,226 officially reported in China since the start of the pandemic.

A July United Nations report predicts China's population of 1.4 billion may start to decline as early as next year, when India will overtake it as the world's most populous country.

UN experts now see China's population shrinking by 109 million by 2050, more than triple the decline of their previous forecast in 2019.

A separate UN China report said the pandemic had a long-term impact on first births, with women citing financial insecurity, unsubstantiated worries about Covid vaccines affecting foetuses, along with difficulties in carrying a pregnancy and taking care of an infant under heavy restrictions.

"Couples that may have been thinking about having a child in the next year, definitely postponed those. Couples that really weren't sure, have postponed indefinitely," said Justine Coulson, the UN Population Fund Representative to China.

New births are set to fall to record lows this year, demographers say, dropping below 10 million from last year's 10.6 million babies - which were already 11.5% lower than in 2020.

Official 2022 population data is not expected until early next year, but some places in China have published worrying statistics in recent weeks.

Screening for birth defects - a reliable proxy for birthrates - in China's third most populous province Henan fell 9.5% year-on-year in the first six months.

Cities elsewhere reported double-digit drops in new birth certificates. Jiaozhou, a city of 1 million in Shandong province, saw a 26% drop in the first six months. Hukou, in Jiangxi province, saw a 42% dive.

Corporate earnings statements also provide some hints: formula maker Ausnutria Dairy, diaper producer Aiyingshi and Goodbaby, which makes cribs and strollers, are among firms citing China's falling births as factors leading to losses in the first half of the year.

None of those figures reflect the impact lockdowns such as those in Shanghai and elsewhere had earlier this year.

But demographers say they do offer a glimpse into how Covid-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021 affected births and expect 2022 to be worse.

Demographer Yi collated data on infants tuberculosis vaccines, marriage registrations and searches for maternity and baby products on Baidu, China's main search engine. He estimates Covid will result in 1 million fewer births in 2021 and 2022 combined, and 2023 could be even worse.

Root Causes

China, which imposed a one-child policy from 1980 to 2015, has officially acknowledged it is on the brink of a demographic downturn.

Its fertility rate of 1.16 in 2021 was below the 2.1 OECD standard for a stable population and among the lowest in the world.

Over the past year or so, authorities have introduced measures such as tax deductions, longer maternity leave, enhanced medical insurance, housing subsidies, extra money for a third child and a crackdown on expensive private tutoring. read more

Still, the desire for Chinese women to have children is the lowest in the world, a survey published in February by think-tank YuWa Population Research showed.

Demographers say measures taken so far are not enough. They cite high education costs, low wages and notoriously long working hours as issues that still need to be addressed, along with Covid policies and economic growth concerns.

A key root cause of low birth rates, according to Peter McDonald, professor of demography at University of Melbourne, is gender inequality, where China is ranked 102nd out of 146 countries by the World Economic Forum.

Jiahui Wu, a 25-year-old financial analyst, said society's standards for a good mother were strict.

"It seems much easier to be a good father," she said. "I prefer to have a good career."

China / China Population / India / India Population / Covid / maternity

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Infographics: TBS
    Inflated rents, ghost floors, Tk220cr advance: How Premier Bank funds lined Iqbal family’s pocket
  • On 21 July, a Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) F-7 BGI training fighter jet crashed into Milestone School and College in Uttara, killing at least 31. Photo: Mehedi Hasan
    Milestone tragedy: Death toll rises to 32 as another child dies
  • File photo of a new NBR office in Agargaon, Dhaka. Photo: UNB
    NBR chief directs customs officials to clear consignments within a day

MOST VIEWED

  • Representational image/Reuters
    Dollar gets upward push as BB buys $10m more in auction at even higher rate
  •  ABM Khairul Haque. File Photo: Collected
    Former chief justice Khairul Haque detained
  • File photo of Bangladesh Bank. Photo: TBS
    Governor Mansur orders withdrawal of BB dress code after directive draws criticism
  • Representational image. Photo: Collected
    Tariff talks: Bangladesh, US set for crucial virtual meeting on 29 July
  • Mehreen Ahmed speaking to media on 11 July 2025. Photo: Collected
    Court disposes of Dhaka girl's case against parents seeking 'protection from abuse'
  • Hasina and Taposh in an event in 2020. Photo: Collected
    Al Jazeera investigation: Hasina, in call with Taposh, talks using helicopter to shoot, crush protesters in July uprising

Related News

  • Chinese medical team arrives in Dhaka to treat Milestone crash victims
  • Dhaka always wanted good working relationship with Delhi: Foreign adviser
  • Britain and India sign free trade pact during Modi visit
  • Man arrested for running fake embassy in India, duping people with job promises
  • China's Xi calls for 'proper handling of frictions' at tense summit with EU officials

Features

Illustration: TBS

The future of medicine: How innovations will catalyse quantum leaps in healthcare

14h | The Big Picture
Photo: Collected

24 July: More than 1400 arrested, 3 missing coordinators found

1d | Panorama
Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS

Aggrieved nation left with questions as citizens rally to help at burn institute

2d | Panorama
Photo: Mehedi Hasan/TBS

Mourning turns into outrage as Milestone students seek truth and justice

2d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

There are many more examples of trials of Chief Justices in the world.

There are many more examples of trials of Chief Justices in the world.

12h | TBS Today
Why is there a massive conflict between Thailand and Cambodia?

Why is there a massive conflict between Thailand and Cambodia?

12h | TBS News Updates
Former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque in prison

Former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque in prison

12h | TBS Today
The Nvidia Chip Deal Trades Away the United States’ AI Advantage

The Nvidia Chip Deal Trades Away the United States’ AI Advantage

12h | Videos
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net