China’s Population Decline
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The “lying flat” movement, a demographic that has lost hope:
Link to video -
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China now discourages vasectomy. Many hospitals in China have stopped offering the procedure.
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I think it'll be hard to turn a "one child" culture into a culture of big families. It'll be a serious headwind to growth for decades.
@xenon said in China’s Population Decline:
I think it'll be hard to turn a "one child" culture into a culture of big families. It'll be a serious headwind to growth for decades.
I agree. There have been lots of articles in the Chinese press about woman starting families/marrying later, being more in the job force, costs of raising a child, etc. They dont want lots of kids.
Historically in China, there has not been much security from the state for elders. Taking care of old people has usually been done by families. However, the latest generation of people is in charge of six people. One kid --> Mom and Dad --> maternal grandparents + paternal grandparents
There used to be some support from the state from what was called "The iron rice bowl" where the state took some care of you from birth to death. That has almost all disappeared also.
I think that is one of the reasons that mainland china is getting more aggressive with its external foreign policy. In the (near) future, there will be much more internal dissent. One way to distract from this is to focus on blaming outside forces.
(BTW, the birthrate in Taiwan is about as bad as in mainland china)
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@xenon said in China’s Population Decline:
I think it'll be hard to turn a "one child" culture into a culture of big families. It'll be a serious headwind to growth for decades.
I agree. There have been lots of articles in the Chinese press about woman starting families/marrying later, being more in the job force, costs of raising a child, etc. They dont want lots of kids.
Historically in China, there has not been much security from the state for elders. Taking care of old people has usually been done by families. However, the latest generation of people is in charge of six people. One kid --> Mom and Dad --> maternal grandparents + paternal grandparents
There used to be some support from the state from what was called "The iron rice bowl" where the state took some care of you from birth to death. That has almost all disappeared also.
I think that is one of the reasons that mainland china is getting more aggressive with its external foreign policy. In the (near) future, there will be much more internal dissent. One way to distract from this is to focus on blaming outside forces.
(BTW, the birthrate in Taiwan is about as bad as in mainland china)
@taiwan_girl said in China’s Population Decline:
I think that is one of the reasons that mainland china is getting more aggressive with its external foreign policy. In the (near) future, there will be much more internal dissent. One way to distract from this is to focus on blaming outside forces.
I also wonder if, with an aging, older population, dissent will also be more subdued. It’s is easy to imagine angry young people starting a (violent) revolution, but “old people” may not be as rash or, for that matter, as energetic to resort to force.
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Another case of the the government wanting immigrants but the people do not:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/14/world/asia/china-stem-visa-racist-backlash.html
China Wants Foreign Scientists. The Public Says No, Thanks.
Since Beijing announced a new visa to attract young science and technology graduates, a backlash has erupted online, forcing the government to respond.
