Has COVID-19 affected fertility? Demographic Expert: The impact is negative

On January 20, the National Health Commission held a regular press conference to introduce the progress and experience of implementing the Decision of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Optimizing The Birth Policy and Promoting the Long-term Balanced Development of the Population. At the meeting, Song Jian, deputy director of the Population and Development Research Center of Chinese Min University, pointed out that the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in 2020 has profoundly changed the world. The decline in the size of the birth population is affected by a variety of factors, and the COVID-19 pandemic is one of them.

Song Jian pointed out that the impact of the epidemic is mainly direct and indirect - for example, the increase in insecurity and uncertainty about the future makes families hesitant about future fertility, and will also reduce people's willingness to have children. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic will directly or indirectly reduce the income of family members, making the impact of childcare costs on childbearing more prominent. During the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, there are many enterprises, especially small and micro enterprises, whose benefits are not good, which not only affects the income of family members, but also increases work and family conflicts in the family, and increases the panic or fear of childbirth. Of course, there are still some people who are worried that routine services such as maternal and child health care and maternity check-ups will be affected during the epidemic. These factors will prompt the masses to choose to postpone or even cancel the birth plan.

Song Jian introduced that since last year, there have been many international studies that have paid attention to the relevant impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic on mortality, fertility rate, etc., and Chinese scholars have also been paying attention to the impact of this aspect. Most of the current research shows that the impact of COVID-19 on births is negative, and the impact of COVID-19 on The chinese birth population remains to be further observed.

Red Star News reporter Yan Yucheng intern reporter Hu Yiwen reported from Beijing

Edited by Xiang Caixia

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