HCM City is currently one of the 21 provinces and cities with the lowest fertility rate in the country. (Photo: VNA)"My wife and I left our hometown to go to HCM City to work. We plan tohave a baby in a few years after we save money and buy a house. Economicpressure will affect our lives if we give birth now," Phuc told Nguoi Lao Dong (The Labourer) newspaper.
The economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic in the last three yearshas also made couples concerned about having children.
Like Phuc, Hoang Van Tinh, 34, in Thu Duc city, said his job is unstable andhis salary has also decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the price ofeverything is increasing, putting him off having more children.
"Economic instability will affect the stability of a marriage. Especially,raising a child is not easy. We have to take turns staying at home to take careof our children if they get sick. My wife and I also want to have more babies,but at the moment we are not doing okay financially," Tinh said.
Many young women working in HCM City are also afraid to get married and havechildren because they want to advance their careers or worry about thehardships of raising children.
A 30-year-old woman living in District 3, Nguyen Thi Ly, said: "When Idecide to get married, I think it is necessary to have a stable income,especially when I have children. The income must be enough to ensure the bestfor my children."
Nguyen Doan Tu, director general of the General Department of Population andFamily Planning under the Ministry of Health, said the trend in delayedchildbearing is one of the reasons behind the low fertility rate in HCM City,which lags the country's replacement fertility rate.
Statistics from the HCM City's Department of Population and Family Planningshowed that the city's fertility rate is 1.39 children per woman ofreproductive age.
The city had a fertility rate of 1.35 in 2017, but by 2021, it reached a rateof 1.48 children per mother.
HCM City is currently one of the 21 provinces and cities with the lowestfertility rate in the country, along with Dong Thap, Hau Giang, Ba Ria-Vung Tau,Binh Duong, Khanh Hoa, Long An, Bac Lieu, Tay Ninh, Soc Trang, Ca Mau, Dong Nai,Binh Thuan, Tien Giang, Can Tho, Vinh Long, An Giang, Ben Tre, Da Nang, QuangNgai and Kien Giang.
The director of the Division of Population and Family Planning, Pham ChanhTrung, said the low fertility will strongly affect the city's populationstructure in the future.
It means the proportion of young people and people of working age isdecreasing, while the proportion of elderly people is increasing.
"Low fertility will lead to many consequences, making the pace ofpopulation aging accelerate, causing labour shortages and affecting socialsecurity," said Trung.
According to Trung, young Vietnamese women tend to get married later, with somewanting to be single mothers. Additionally, there are more and more people whohave good finances and can take care of children but are afraid to have babies.
Meanwhile, for people in difficult financial conditions, having a baby is addedpressure.
"The biggest challenge is how to create the best living environment forcouples to give birth and raise children with peace of mind."
He said the population sector has faced many difficulties in implementing birthpromotion measures.
It must be associated with policies, the needs and economic conditions of thepeople, as well as the support of the whole society for the care of children.
"The population industry is promoting communication about low fertilityand its consequences, so that people can better understand the problem. At thesame time, we also organise workshops and talks with the participation of manyexperts and speakers to exchange and share experiences, and to seek solutionsto raise the birth rate."
Although the fertility rate is still low compared to the whole country, theaverage fertility rate of HCM City tended to increase slightly in recent years,from 1.35 in 2017 to 1.39 in 2022.
The city's health sector is developing a draft proposal on population policiesto 2030, including solutions for providing financial support for couples withtwo children, hospital fees, and the cost of pre-marital health check-ups.
This draft policy is expected to be submitted to the city People's Council atthe mid-2023 meeting.
In the long term, it is necessary to improve the healthcare system, education,tuition fee exemption and reduction, personal income tax exemption, andadjustment of maternity policy.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Vietnam will surpass100 million people in April, becoming the 15th most populous country in theworld.
Vietnam currently has the highest proportion of young people in the country’shistory with 21.1% of the total population aged between 10 and 24.
The country’s unique demographic window of opportunities is still open until2039 with the presence of such young and productive population groups, and thedemographic bonus can be tapped into to accelerate the country’s socio-economicgrowth.
But with fertility decline and limitation over the past decades, Vietnam’spopulation is aging fast.
Vietnam is expected to become an aged country by 2036 when the number of peopleaged 65 and above will reach 15.5 million, accounting for more than 14% of thetotal population.
Also, given son preference, which is still prevalent in Vietnamese society,coupled with fertility decline and limitation and availability of technology,prenatal sex selection is common, and 47,000 girls are estimated to be missingevery year.
It is projected that by 2034, Vietnam will have an excess of 1.5 million menaged 15-49, and the number will reach 2.5 million by 2059./.
VNA
