A slew of policies are being revised to increase birth rates, yet public concern remains over whether the proposed incentives in the draft Population Law will effectively address the declining number of births, said insiders.
Thailand will tackle its declining birth rate by putting fertility on the national agenda in the context the country’s fertility rate is seeing a decline, placing the kingdom to face a “super-aged” society.
Fertility rates over the past two years increased across many localities in Vietnam, and it was even higher than the total replacement birth rate, said Director General of the General Department of Population and Family Planning Nguyen Doan Tu.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a birth rate adjustment programme towards 2030 which encourages people to get married before the age of 30 and women to give birth to their second child before 35.
People from Hanoi have Vietnam’s longest life expectancy, estimated at more than 75 years old, 1.6 years higher than the national average, according to the Hanoi Population and Family Planning branch.
Troubled by low fertility rates in southern provinces, the Ministry of Health has proposed relaxing the country’s two-child policy in order to allow Vietnamese parents to decide the number of children they want.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) will continue maintaining a reasonably low birth rate nationwide, as well as taking measures to reduce the birth rate in rural and remote areas this year.
Vietnam’s population has remained stable and yet to surpass 92 million people, heard a conference held on January 14 reviewing last year’s outcomes related to population and family planning.
Hanoi’s birth rate this year is likely to stand at 15.8 per 1,000 members of the population, a sharp drop from 19.36 in 2012 and meeting the city’s yearly target.
Vietnam’s population policy overhaul should work towards maintaining the birth rate at 2.1 and gender balance to provide a workforce that can drive the economy forwards.
