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| Many young Chinese couples are choosing to be a family of two and not have children. (Source: Shutterstock) |
Zhang Chengying’s parents, 32, were shocked and surprised when she first shared her plans for a childless future. “They asked my husband and I if there was anything wrong with making such a decision, and I said there was no problem,” Zhang Chengying recalled.
DINK trend is booming
Zhang Chengying said she and her husband want to be a DINK (double income, no kids) couple – a term used to describe a couple where both partners have jobs, earn incomes and do not have children. They have no intention of changing their views at the moment, even though this worries parents.
“My mother said she was over 60 and didn’t want to be ridiculed for not having grandchildren. But should I trade my freedom just to avoid being laughed at? Absolutely not,” Zhang Chengying affirmed.
She has just completed her residency in internal medicine at a medical university in Shandong Province and is awaiting a research position at a hospital later this year. Her husband will start work at a public administration organization in two weeks. Currently, the couple are both in the habit of staying up late, preferring to sleep in without worrying or being concerned about their children.
The couple recently embarked on a 5,499-kilometer (about 3,417-mile) trip through three Chinese provinces after careful planning. “I definitely wouldn’t be able to enjoy such a trip if I had children. As parents, many of my friends rarely have time to go out and meet friends,” Zhang Chengying said.
Although Beijing has officially ended Covid-19 prevention and control measures, the post-pandemic effects still have a long-term impact on the "health" of the economy and the spiritual life of the people.
For many Chinese, the financial pressure of getting married and having children leaves them with a worrying view of the future and a tendency to not want to have children.
The trend has been emerging for years, even before Covid-19, but the pandemic has worsened the situation with prolonged economic uncertainty and widespread lockdowns. The birth rate in the world’s second-largest economy hit a record low last year as deaths exceeded births for the first time in more than six decades.
“We think we are becoming more self-aware, while our parents think we are becoming more selfish,” said Yang Xiaotong, 26, a freelancer in Shenzhen.
Like Zhang Chengying, Yang Xiaotong is also not willing to give up her life and freedom for her children. Having just got married in April, Yang Xiaotong and her husband chose to live as just two, and this thought was sparked after 3 years of experiencing the pandemic.
“We think more about the true meaning of life. I want to see the world rather than stay in an 80-square-meter apartment worrying about milk and diapers,” said Yang Xiaotong.
Faced with too much pressure in work and life, Yang Xiaotong and some friends are satisfied with their current life when they can travel anytime and focus on improving their quality of life. Not only do they refuse to have children, many of her friends also have no intention of getting married.
Population pressure is reduced
“With the marriage rate falling and the proportion of never-married people increasing, China is likely to continue to see a low birth rate in the coming decades,” said Ren Yuan, a professor at the Institute of Population Research at Fudan University.
China's total population in 2022 fell by 850,000 from 2021, marking the first decline in 61 years, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The birth rate for first-time mothers has also dropped significantly.
“The biggest concern in China now is the low birth rate of one-child families,” said Chen Weimin, a professor at the Institute of Population and Development Studies at Nankai University, pointing to the rising cost of having children – along with skyrocketing unemployment and a bleak economic outlook – as the situation becomes increasingly tense.
As for Qu Yun, a 24-year-old nurse in Shandong Province, the reason she doesn’t want to have children is because of lack of money and time. “I have to work more than 12 hours a day, and don’t even have time for lunch, let alone take care of a child.”
Although more and more local governments and companies are offering subsidies to encourage having children, the thinking of a segment of young Chinese people remains unchanged.
Even Zhang Chengying, despite having a relatively high-paying job, worries about her financial ability to provide for her children. “The cost of education is too high and I don’t want to give birth in such a tiring environment,” Zhang explained.
Professor Chen Weimin said that, with the "fear of having children" trending and spreading quite widely through social networks, it is time for China to have policies to create a more favorable social foundation, aiming at the goal of "establishing a child-friendly society".
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