China wants more babies; China’s women have other plans

At a time when China needs to get its population growing, China’s women have other priorities. Among those priorities is building a career and that leads to a delay in marriage and childbirth, or forgoing having a family altogether. And while Beijing uses a heavy hand to curb social activism, it has not slowed a growing feminist movement, with women demanding what women elsewhere want: equality in the workplace and in the household.

Given China faces a population time bomb, with plummeting birth rates and a rapidly ageing workforce, President Xi Jinping and the core leadership – all men – need to come up with effective policies as they meet in Beijing for the annual legislative sessions.

The political gatherings coincide with International Women’s Day on March 8 which has “Choose to Challenge” as its 2021 slogan. A challenge is certainly what Beijing’s leadership faces as some studies suggest the worst is yet to come on the population front.

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