China’s ruling Communist Party is facing a national emergency. To solve this problem, the party wants more women to have more children.
It has offered them sweeteners like cheaper housing, tax breaks and cash. It also calls on people to be patriotic and to be “good wives and mothers.”
Your efforts are not working. Chinese women are rapidly avoiding marriage and childbirth, and China’s population in 2023 is expected to decline for the second consecutive year, and the government’s sense of crisis regarding the rapidly aging population and the future of the economy is accelerating. .
The Chinese government announced Wednesday that 9.02 million infants were born in 2023, down from 9.56 million in 2022, the seventh consecutive year of decline. Combined with the number of deaths that year (11.1 million), China has more elderly people than anywhere else in the world, and that number is growing rapidly. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s total population as of the end of 2023 was 1,409.67 million, a decrease of 2 million people.
China’s shrinking and aging population is worrying the Chinese government, as the working-age population needed to drive the economy is leaving the country. The demographic crisis has arrived sooner than almost anyone expected, straining already fragile and underfunded health and pension systems.
China accelerated the problem with its one-child policy, which helped push down the birth rate for decades. The rule also created generations of only-child girls who were denied access to education and employment. This group has transformed into empowered women who now see the Chinese government’s efforts as pushing back into the home.
China’s supreme leader, Xi Jinping, has long spoken of the need for women to return to more traditional roles within the home. He recently called on government officials to promote a “culture of marriage and procreation” and influence the way young people think about “love and marriage, fertility and family.”
But experts said the initiative lacked any attempt to address one reality that shapes how women view child-rearing: deep gender inequality. Laws designed to protect women and their property and ensure that they are treated equally have failed to do their job.
“Women in our country still don’t have enough confidence to have children,” said Rachelle Chen, a social media expert from the southern province of Guangdong. Ms Chen, 33, has been married for five years, but she has no intention of having children, she said.
“The government’s birth policies seem to be only about making babies, not protecting the people giving birth,” she says. “It does not protect women’s rights and interests.”
Propaganda campaigns and state-sponsored dating events encourage young people to marry and have children. In China, it is rare for unmarried couples or single people to have children. State media is full of calls for young Chinese people to play a role in “revitalizing the nation.”
This message has also been received by parents, many of whom already share traditional views on marriage. Chen’s parents are furious about her decision not to have children, and sometimes cry on the phone. “We are not your parents anymore,” they tell her.
Women in China today are more aware of their rights due to increased advocacy against sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Although authorities have tried to silence China’s feminist movement, Chinese ideas about equality remain widespread.
Zheng Zhuolan, a Chinese women’s rights activist who was detained along with four other activists on the eve of International Women’s Day in 2015, said: “Over the past decade, a huge feminist community has been built through the internet.” Told. “Today, women are more empowered,” says Zheng.
Censorship silences much of the debate surrounding women’s issues and can undermine public debate on sexism, harassment, and gender violence. Still, women were able to share their experiences online and offer support to victims, Chung said.
In theory, China has laws that promote gender equality. For example, employment discrimination based on gender, race, or ethnicity is illegal. In reality, companies recruit male candidates and discriminate against female employees, said Guo Jing, an activist who has helped provide legal aid to women facing workplace discrimination and sexual harassment. It is said that there is.
“In some ways, women are more aware of gender inequality in all areas of life,” Guo said. “Even in court, it’s still difficult for women to get justice.” She sued the state-owned Eastern Culinary Training School in 2014, claiming she was told not to apply for jobs because she was a woman. Although she won her case, she was only awarded about $300 in compensation.
Recently, there has been an increase in shocking social media posts and news articles about acts of violence against women, including an incident where several women were assaulted and found chained at a restaurant in Tangshan. The story of the mother of eight children is attracting national attention. wall of the hut.
Women often cite such acts of violence when discussing why they don’t want to get married. Policy and regulatory changes are another example, such as new rules mandating a 30-day cooling-off period before civil divorces can be formalized. Marriage rates have been declining for nine years. Government statistics show that this trend, once largely confined to urban areas, is now spreading to rural areas.
Another reason women don’t want to get married is that it’s becoming harder to win in court if a divorce is contested.
Indiana University professor Ethan Michelson analyzed nearly 150,000 court decisions in divorce cases and found that 40% of claims filed by women are rejected by judges when there is evidence of domestic violence. It turned out that there were many.
“There were so many strong signals from the highest levels, and from President Xi himself, that the family is the foundation of Chinese society, and family stability is the basis of social stability and national development.” Michelson said. “There’s no question that these signals reinforced the judge’s tendencies,” he says.
Popular sayings online, such as “The marriage license has become a license to beat,” or worse, are further reinforced by news coverage. Last summer, a woman in northwestern Gansu province had her application for divorce rejected despite evidence of domestic violence. The judge said the couple needed to stay together for the sake of their children. Another woman in the southern city of Guangzhou was murdered by her husband during a 30-day divorce cooling-off period.
In 2011, the Supreme People’s Court ruled in the man’s favor that the family home should not be divided upon divorce, but given to the person named on the deed.
“That decision really scared a lot of women in China,” said Rita Hong Fincher, author of “Leftover Women: The Resurgence of Gender Inequality in China.”
That feeling of panic hasn’t gone away yet.
“Instead of mothers receiving more care and protection, they become more vulnerable to abuse and isolation,” said Elgar Yang, a 24-year-old journalist in Shanghai.
Government policies aimed at encouraging women to get married “feel like a trap,” she added.