Since 1979, married couples in China were only allowed to have one child. This finally ended in 2015 when the government realized it caused a shrinking workforce and a quickly aging population. They then allowed married couples to have 2 children. There was a slight uptick of births, however the birth rate was still falling. Recently, in 2021, China’s government has allowed married couples to have 3 children. They even offered many perks for having children, such as longer maternity leave and tax deductions. However, these perks are not helping birth rates rise. This is due to expensive living and education, and the simple fact that many people are choosing to get married when they are older and have zero children. The people of China also don’t want to birth more people into the harsh conditions of the communist regime. When Covid-19 began, younger people began saying “We are the last generation,” following the harsh two-month lockdown. In response to this, Chinese leader Xi Jinping says, ““[We will] establish a policy system to boost birth rates, and bring down the costs of pregnancy and childbirth, child rearing, and schooling.” In 2022, China’s population dropped to 1.411 billion, which is down 850,000 from the previous year. This is the first time the population has declined since 1961. China’s economy is beginning to struggle because of the shrinking workforce. They can no longer depend on an abundant, young workforce. Over 19.8% of the population are over 60. This is an increase of thirteen million people from 2021. Populations are also decreasing in Japan and South Korea. The world is headed toward a large elderly demographic because many couples simply don’t want to have children anymore.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/16/economy/china-population-decline-sixty-years-intl-hnk/index.html

Source: https://www.npr.org/2021/06/21/1008656293/the-legacy-of-the-lasting-effects-of-chinas-1-child-policy#:~:text=Families%20were%20already%20having%20fewer,%2C%22%20Gietel%2DBasten%20says.