China’s Birthrate Plunges to Lowest Level Since 1949

It turns out that telling a billion people exactly how many kids they can have for forty years might eventually backfire. Who would have guessed? China just released its 2025 population data, and it is a bit of a disaster. The birth rate has hit a record low of 5.63 per 1,000 people. To make matters worse, people are popping their clogs at the highest rate since 1968. The result is a shrinking population for the fourth year in a row.

Beijing is currently in a bit of a panic. They have gone from the “one child” rule to “two,” and now they are basically begging couples to have three. They are even throwing money at the problem, offering about £375 for every toddler under three. But it seems young people in China have done the maths. Between the sky high cost of living and the sheer exhaustion of trying to get a kid into a top school, most are decided that a quiet life with a cat is a much better deal.

The Cost of a Crying Baby

Raising a child in China is now one of the most expensive hobbies on the planet. It costs about six times the average salary just to get them to adulthood.

Taxing the Wrong Things?

In a move that sparked plenty of side eye on social media, the government recently slapped a 13% tax on contraceptives. The logic seems to be that if you make birth control more expensive, people will just accidentally start a family. Critics pointed out that this might just lead to more health issues rather than more babies.

Young workers are also dealing with massive job competition and a “996” work culture, which means working 9am to 9pm, six days a week. It is quite hard to find time for a date, let alone raise a future taxpayer, when you are chained to your desk.

An Aging Empire

The real headache is the “silver tsunami.” There are now over 310 million people over the age of sixty. The state pension pot is reportedly running dry, and with fewer young people entering the workforce, there is nobody left to pay the bill. Many seniors are being left to fend for themselves as their only children move to big cities to chase a paycheck.

Experts at the UN reckon China could lose half its population by the end of the century. That is a lot of empty apartments and very quiet playgrounds. Beijing is trying everything to turn the ship around, but you cannot really force people to be romantic by decree.

It seems the “Red Emperor” has found the one thing he cannot control with a five year plan: the human heart and a very expensive nursery bill.

If you want to save the world’s second largest economy, you might need to start by making nappies a lot cheaper.

Related topics: Asia