The declining birth rate and rapid population aging also put great pressure on the social security system, welfare, human resources and high costs for caring for the elderly.
Medical staff give children vitamin A
Vietnam has seen a downward trend in fertility rates, even reaching an all-time low in 2023 when the estimated fertility rate is 1.96 children per woman and is forecast to continue to decline.
Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van said that a worrying reality is that population work is facing many difficulties and challenges, directly affecting life, society and sustainable development of Vietnam.
Maintaining replacement fertility is not really sustainable. Vietnam officially reached replacement fertility in 2006 when the total fertility rate (TFR) = 2.09 children/woman and has been very successful in maintaining fertility around replacement fertility over the past time.
However, besides the advantages and opportunities that the achievements in fertility reduction in recent times have brought, Vietnam is facing new challenges: maintaining a stable replacement fertility rate nationwide is not really sustainable, the fertility rate varies significantly between regions and groups, and there is a trend of low fertility.
The national fertility rate is trending down below the replacement level, the total fertility rate in 2023 is 1.96 children/woman, the lowest level ever 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 socio-economic conditions are developed; by socio-economic region, currently 2/6 regions, namely the Southeast and the Mekong Delta, have low fertility rates below the replacement level.
Mr. Pham Chanh Trung, Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Population and Family Planning, said that the city is among the 21 provinces and cities with the lowest birth rate in the country. In 2023, the total fertility rate in Ho Chi Minh City is 1.32 children/woman; in 2022 it is 1.39 children/woman; in 2021 it is 1.48 children/woman. These figures are much lower than the replacement fertility rate of 2.1 children/woman - the average rate to maintain a stable population size.
The declining birth rate poses major challenges to the socio-economic development of Ho Chi Minh City. The biggest challenge is the increasing proportion of elderly people, while the proportion of people of working age decreases, causing a shortage of labor, affecting productivity and economic development. The declining birth rate and rapid population aging also put great pressure on the social security system, welfare, human resources and high costs for caring for the elderly.
The Department of Population (Ministry of Health) assessed that in the context of continued economic growth, increasingly rapid urbanization, and increasingly deep and wide international integration, the trend of low birth rates will be further consolidated and widespread. If the birth rate continues to decrease and persist, it will directly and deeply impact the population size and structure and leave many consequences such as labor shortage, rapid population aging and population decline... greatly affecting the sustainable development of the country.
One of the messages given on Vietnam Population Day, December 26 this year, is "Having two children makes parents wise and their children grateful."
Strengthening birth promotion policiesOn December 9, at the 20th session of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee presented a document regulating the reward and support policies for groups and individuals who perform well in population work in the area.
The Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Population and Family Planning said that to implement birth promotion, it is not simply a matter of changing the number of children, but more importantly, there are policies to support couples of marriageable and childbearing age so that they can raise their children in the best conditions for development. Because this is a resource for future socio-economic development as well as consistent with the most important goal of population policy, which is to improve population quality.
Mr. Matt Jackson - Chief Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Vietnam said that currently, many countries in the world, including Vietnam, are witnessing a trend of declining fertility. This is not a temporary phenomenon but a new reality for more and more countries.
However, according to Matt Jackson, the use of coercive measures in reproduction will not be effective in changing fertility rates. Changes in fertility rates are largely influenced by reproductive choices, which are in turn influenced by socio-economic factors such as gender roles, the cost of living, employment opportunities, childcare costs, as well as the burden of unpaid work that falls mainly on women. Solving population problems must go beyond numbers, and consider prioritizing effective investments in people and the economy, as well as building a more inclusive society.
The Party and State of Vietnam always pay attention to population work and make policy adjustments to suit the context and actual situation. In response to the trend of fluctuating birth rates, the 12th Party Central Committee issued Resolution No. 21-NQ/TW dated October 25, 2017 on population work in the new situation; the Government issued the Vietnam Population Strategy to 2030 and the Birth Rate Adjustment Program to suit regions and subjects to 2030 with the goal of firmly maintaining the replacement birth rate nationwide.
Most recently, Resolution No. 68/NQ-CP dated May 9, 2024 of the Government on promulgating the Government's Action Program to implement Resolution 42-NQ/TW determined: Effectively implement population policy and develop in a sustainable direction; improve population quality, effectively take advantage of the golden population period, in which, assign the Ministry of Health to preside over and coordinate with relevant ministries and branches to research and develop a comprehensive population policy framework, ensuring a replacement birth rate appropriate to regions, areas, population groups and population quantity and quality" to submit to the National Assembly...
(Source Vietnam+)
Source: https://baophutho.vn/tang-cuong-khuyen-sinh-de-nguoi-dan-khong-ngai-sinh-con-225267.htm
Comment (0)