Vietnam has eliminated its policy of limiting families to having no more than two children, as the country seeks to boost a declining fertility rate that threatens its long-term economic prospects.
The new regulation, approved by the National Assembly on Tuesday, formalizes what had already been common practice for most Vietnamese couples — with the exception of Communist Party officials. Since the fertility policy was introduced in 1988, and until the legal change this week, party members could lose bonuses or be fired for having more than two children.
Now, all families can have as many children as they want, and, in fact, officials are actively encouraging couples to procreate as their concerns about Vietnam’s demographic balance have begun to intensify. The country of 100 million saw its birthrate fall to a record low last year, at 1.91 children per woman. It was the third consecutive year that Vietnam’s birthrate dropped below the replacement level of 2.1.
Like many countries across Asia — including China, Japan, South Korea — Vietnam fears a downward spiral: Fewer children born now means fewer workers later to support the economy and larger generations of aging citizens. It is currently in a demographic sweet spot, with a bumper crop of young workers, but that is already starting to change.
“Vietnam is in the period of population aging,” according to the United Nations Population Fund. The agency said the transition from an “aging” to an “aged” population will occur over just 20 years.
To try and counter the shrinking size of families, Vietnam has rolled out dating shows and propaganda posters that aim to goad young people into having more babies. In Ho Chi Minh City, where the fertility rate fell to just 1.39 last year, officials recently introduced a baby bonus of around $120 to be given to women who have two children before turning 35.
Some southern provinces have adopted similar reward policies.
But as is the case in other countries, there is little sign that payments or public service campaigns will reverse the trend and persuade young couples to have more children.
In Facebook comments responding to the Vietnam Ministry of Health’s official post announcing the policy change, many people scorned the idea of large families for all the usual reasons, including the high cost of living in cities and the lack of affordable child care.
One woman wrote that she couldn’t afford to raise two kids, so “why have more and suffer?”
Nguyen Thi Tuyet Lan, 35, a shop owner in Hanoi with one child — a young daughter — said that she welcomed the policy change but insisted it would have little impact on her family planning decisions.
She said she saw how hard it was growing up in a family with three siblings, and did not want to repeat the pattern.
“I want to focus my love and my money to invest into my daughter’s education and her future,” she said. “It costs a big chunk of my family income to send her to a private school, extracurricular classes such as English, music and holiday travels. I am not sure if I can afford to have another child.”
Tung Ngo contributed reporting from Hanoi
Damien Cave leads The Times’s new bureau in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, covering shifts in power across Asia and the wider world.
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