Greater efforts urged to encourage births as population growth slows(2)

To address the challenges of a graying population and declining fertility rates, China has adjusted its family planning policy to allow couples to have up to three children. Central authorities have also issued a slew of supportive measures, from tax breaks and more flexible work leave to easier access to nurseries, schools and public housing, in order to ease the burden on parents raising children.

Zhai said that while negative population growth is an inevitable outcome of modernization and urbanization, effective and efficient implementation of the policies can delay the process and give the country more time to minimize the impact on society and the economy.

More efforts are needed to offer affordable nurseries to couples, reduce education costs and introduce supportive policies to minimize the impact of giving birth on women's career development, he added.

The yearbook also said there were 8.14 million registered marriages last year, down by 1.13 million from 2019. The number has declined for seven consecutive years.

There were 5.88 million registered marriages during the first three quarters this year, a fall of 17.5 percent compared with the same period last year, the Ministry of Civil Affairs said.

According to a survey of 2,900 single people between the ages of 18 and 26 conducted by a research center at the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, 25 percent of respondents said they were uncertain whether they would get married, and 8.9 percent said they would not get married.

Forty-four percent of female respondents said they would not get married or had not made a decision about it. However, only 24 percent of male respondents gave the same response. Researchers put the large disparity down to the negative impact raising a child has on women's career opportunities and development.

Last year, 4.34 million couples divorced, a decrease of 361,600 compared with 2019. The divorce rate, which has been rising for years, fell from 3.36 percent in 2019 to 3.09 percent in 2020, mainly due to the introduction of a 30-day cooling-off period for couples filing for divorce.

The cooling-off period was included in the Civil Code, which came into effect on Jan 1. During the period, either party can withdraw the divorce application.