Vietnam has lifted a two-child limit for families in force since 1988, the Vietnamese news agency VNA reported, quoted by BTA.
From now on, each couple will have the freedom to choose how many children to have. Vietnam, which has a population of about 100 million, fears that the low birth rate will hurt its economy, notes Agence France-Presse.
For the past three years, the fertility rate has been below the replacement threshold of 2.1, which according to the Vietnamese Ministry of Health is a historically low indicator. If in 2021 If in 2011, an average of 2.11 children were born per woman, then the indicator in the following years will fall to 2.01 in 2022, to 1.96 in 2023 and to 1.91 last year.
The phenomenon mainly affects the capital Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City - the two economic centers of Vietnam, where the cost of living is rising. The Ministry of Health expressed doubts that this year they will be able to convince Vietnamese couples to have more children despite the measures that the state is taking.
In China, since the late 1970s, a limit on the number of children per family has also been in effect as a measure against excessive population growth. Since 2016, the Chinese authorities have gradually begun to loosen the restrictions and allow couples to have a third child if they wish.