In a press release issued this afternoon, August 27, the Ministry of Health said that recently, on social networks, some information has been posted about the Minister of Health giving his opinion and proposing to pilot "punishing single people". The Ministry of Health affirmed: "Punishing single people is false information, deliberately distorted, causing misunderstanding and frustration in society".
The Ministry of Health proposes to stipulate that couples and individuals have the right to decide the number of children, and have the obligation to implement population policies and laws appropriate to each period.
Previously, on August 13, the Minister of Health issued Official Dispatch No. 4737/BYT-VPB1 in response to the petition of voters in Ho Chi Minh City, in which the voters requested "specific measures to increase the birth rate in urban areas...".
The document states that, in order to maintain a stable replacement fertility rate, ensure population growth rate and maintain a reasonable working-age population structure contributing to sustainable population development, on April 28, 2020, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 588/QD-TTg approving the Program on Adjusting Fertility Rates to Suit Regions and Subjects by 2030. In particular, in localities that have reached the replacement fertility rate and have low fertility rates, it is necessary to focus on prioritizing the immediate implementation of tasks and solutions to mobilize, support and encourage people to have 2 children...
Birth rate decline
Recently, voters in Ho Chi Minh City have petitioned the Ministry of Health to take specific measures to increase the birth rate in urban areas, to prevent population aging and labor shortages in the future.
In response to the above proposal, the Minister of Health said that Vietnam officially reached the replacement fertility rate in 2006 (2.09 children/woman). However, the replacement fertility rate is not really sustainable, and there is a trend of decreasing fertility. In fact, the total fertility rate nationwide is on a downward trend (1.96 children/woman in 2023), the lowest decrease since 2006 and is forecast to continue to decrease in the following years.
The trend of low and very low fertility is concentrated in some urban areas, where the socio-economic conditions are developed and highly urbanized. The fertility rate in urban areas has been lower than the replacement level in the past 20 years and is always lower than the fertility rate in rural areas; 2/6 socio-economic regions (Southeast, Mekong Delta) have low fertility rates below the replacement level.
In particular, the Southeast is the region with the highest average income per person in the country but has the lowest birth rate in the country, with an average of 1.47 children per woman.
Prolonged low birth rate will leave many consequences such as rapid population aging, labor shortage, and impact on social security. The trend of decreasing birth rate, in addition to the impact on population size, also leads to a decrease in children under 15 years old and an increase in the elderly. Vietnam is in the process of population aging, one of the countries with the fastest aging rate in the world. When the birth rate decreases, it accelerates the process of population aging in our country.
In the draft Population Law, expected to be submitted to the National Assembly for approval in October 2025, the Ministry of Health has also researched and included a number of contents to support and encourage groups and individuals to perform well in population work.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/bo-y-te-de-xuat-xu-phat-nguoi-doc-than-khong-sinh-con-la-thong-tin-bia-dat-185240827162743876.htm
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