Kathmandu. Vietnam’s communist government has lifted its long-standing policy of limiting a family to two children as the country struggles to reverse a declining birth rate, state media reported on Wednesday.
In 1988, the country banned couples from having more than two children. But the size of the family is now the decision of each individual couple, the Vietnam News Agency reported.
The country has experienced a historically low birth rate in the last three years. The total fertility rate fell to 1.91 children below the replacement level per woman in 2024, the Health Ministry said this year.
The birth rate has decreased from 2.11 children per woman in 2021 to 2.01 in 2022 and 1.96 in 2023. This trend is evident in urbanized, economically developed regions, especially in large cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, as the cost of living increases.
Gender imbalance
Earlier this year, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thi Lin Huong warned that despite policy adjustments and public campaigns, families were finding it difficult to encourage more children.
He stressed that the declining birth rate posed challenges for long-term socio-economic development, including the ageing population and lack of workforce. He urged the society to change its mindset of focusing only on family planning in the broader context of population and development.
Vietnam is also struggling with gender imbalances because of boys’ historical preferences. State media reported on Tuesday that the health ministry proposed to triple the current fine to $3,800 “to control the gender selection of fetuses”.
In Vietnam, parents are prohibited from informing their child’s gender before birth. Also, abortion is prohibited due to sex selection and there is a provision for punishment for clinics violating the law. Although the sex ratio at birth has improved, the rate of 112 boys is distorted compared to every 100 girls.
Vietnam’s neighbor, China, ended its strict “one-child policy” imposed in the 1980s on fear of overpopulation, in 2016 and allowed couples to have three children in 2021.
But as in many countries, rising costs of living have hampered birth rates, and these measures have failed to reverse China’s demographic decline. China’s population has declined for the third year in a row in 2024.
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