Birth rates are down all across the world, with Asian countries getting hit especially hard. Japan is doing what it can with some recent moves that encourage people to have sex on Fridays, as the population has aged so much that some Japanese villages are building mannequins to replace the children that used to live there. China, also trying to reverse its low birth rate, is urging colleges and universities to implement “love education” classes promoting positive views on marriage, love, fertility, and family life.
The State Council wants to emphasize the importance of “a healthy positive marriage and childbearing cultural atmosphere.” They think a class that demystifies family life and the myriad of responsibilities that come with it might just do the trick.
China has a current population of 1.4 billion yet faces demographic challenges as, like Japan, much of that population is aging which will put an enormous amount of pressure on its social services and the economy in the decades to come.
According to a report by China Population Daily, a newspaper overseen by the National Health Commission, 57 percent of students have no interest in romantic relationships. They say it’s simply too difficult to balance a relationship with academic responsibilities. Japan is attempting to solve a strikingly similar problem by giving its extremely overworked government workers a four-day workweek.
Maybe what Asian countries are discovering, that America could probably learn a thing or two about, is working your ass off to meet the requirements of someone else’s vague concept of success probably isn’t the best for your life or humanity as a whole? Maybe taking it a little easier is a better way to live?
The reaction to the love education classes has ranged from disdain to outright mockery from Chinese citizens, with many saying the nation should focus on the financial stability of its citizens before worrying about whether or not they’re having kids.
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The post ‘Love Education’ Classes Could Help Boost the Fertility Rate in China appeared first on VICE.
