Population

A company that fired a woman for taking too much maternity leave must pay her salary compensation and severance pay, a Chinese court ruled in a hearing made public on March 3. Legal experts said the ruling signals a desire by authorities to enforce maternal leave policies in the hope that it encourages more people to have children.  China faces a demographics crisis that got far more urgent in 2020 after the government recorded a 15% decrease in newborns registered its hukou housing system.  The woman, surnamed Zhong, had worked in the company for seven years before going on maternity leave in May 2019.  Three months later, the company discharged her because they said she was not showing up

A provincial government in China wants to create a framework to incentivize people to have more children, but there are real questions about if it is possible.  The policy proposal in Shanxi, in central China, wants the government to create a “good matchmaking environment and encourage women aged between 21 and 29 to give birth during this optimal reproductive period.” The proposal reflects deep anxiety in China about a looming demographic crisis.  Chinese people have fewer children, and the country’s population is rapidly aging. The total population is expected to start to shrink as soon as 2027, a scenario that the government worries could slow down economic growth and put pressure on the

In China, the marriage rate is falling and more affluent single women are seeking to become mothers without husbands. They are turning to overseas options. Unmarried women in China are largely barred from accessing sperm banks and in-vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment, where an egg is fertilized by sperm outside the body. One single mother by choice tells her story.