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On a sunny morning, the news broadcast by CCTV plunged the whole nation into deep anxiety. The chilling display of data on the screen is even more chilling – such alarming figures, such as "declining birth rate", "increasing population aging" and "increasingly distorted demographics", are hitting every citizen like a sharp sword.
Ms. Wang, who sat in front of the TV, showed deep worry on her face. As a civil servant, she always keeps a close eye on major national events. And the signal of the demographic crisis revealed in this news report made her feel even more stressed.
"If the demographic crisis really comes, then where will our great motherland go?" Just thinking about it makes people feel extremely panic!" Ms. Wang muttered to herself, her brows furrowed.
At this moment, her nine-year-old son, Xiao Ming, walked into the room, his immature face filled with a bright smile, like a warm ray of sunshine shining into the room. "Mom, why are you so worried?" the child sensitively sensed the mother's emotional changes.
Ms. Wang hugged the child tightly, her heart full of worry. She thought to herself, if the demographic crisis really comes, then Xiao Ming and his generation may not be able to bear the heavy responsibility of providing for the elderly! .
China, once the world's most populous country, had to adopt an unprecedented family planning policy in the last century in order to curb excessive population growth. Today, however, the populous country has had to actively encourage childbearing in the face of an aging population.
However, the reality is cruel, and the government's policy has been repeatedly frustrated by young people's indifference to childbearing. The data shows that the low number of newborns has caused unprecedented anxiety among the relevant authorities.
Ms. Wang stared at her son's clear eyes, and her heart was full of emotion. She looks forward to the country getting out of this crisis as soon as possible so that children can enjoy peace and prosperity without worries.
First of all, excessive stress in life is an important cause of low fertility. In the community where Ms. Wang lives, there is a young couple, Mr. Zhang and Ms. Li. As a post-80s generation, they are in the golden age of career development, but the heavy burden of life makes them have no time to take care of childbirth.
"The rent is as high as more than 5,000 yuan, and I still need to pay a high amount of car and housing loans every month, and the remaining money is simply not enough to maintain the family's livelihood.
Ms. Li nodded thoughtfully in agreement, and she quietly enumerated the financial burden that the children would bring to the family: "When a child is born, it almost needs to bear tens of thousands of yuan, and the following school year is even more expensive, plus baby products such as milk powder and diapers...... It's unbearable!"
In addition to the financial burden, the competitive pressures of modern society are even more prohibitive for young parents. Take Ms. Wang's neighbor, Xiao Zhang, for example, even though he has given birth to a lovely girl, he still feels a mountain of pressure that he can't get rid of.
Nowadays, teachers are given so much homework that they have to accompany their daughter until late at night to complete it. While helping his daughter complete her homework, Xiao Zhang sighed, "If you add another ding, I am afraid that the whole family will be overwhelmed by endless studies." ”
On the other hand, contemporary people's concepts are also quietly changing, making the status of childbirth in the minds of young people gradually decline. In contrast to the traditional notion of the previous generation, which was obsessed with "passing on the bloodline", today's young people are paying more attention to their own development and quality of life.
"I yearn for freedom, I want to travel the world, and having children takes up a lot of time. This post-90s Xiao Li made no secret of his inner thoughts, "Besides, most of my generation hold the same view, and childbirth seems extremely unfamiliar to me."
The combination of various factors has greatly reduced the fertility desire of young couples, which is the root cause of the intensification of the demographic crisis.
In the face of such a serious challenge, the government naturally pays close attention to it and actively takes measures to deal with it. After all, once the demographic crisis really breaks out, it will inevitably become a major disaster for the country.
In order to cope with the increasingly serious problem of population aging, the government first resolutely abolished the past "family planning" policy and instead vigorously advocated the people to have children. The comprehensive promotion of the two-child and three-child policies is a concrete embodiment of this change.
In addition, local governments have introduced various preferential subsidies aimed at stimulating the increase in fertility rates. For example, a one-time maternity allowance for families of new parents, free antenatal check-ups for pregnant women, and loan concessions for couples of childbearing age when buying a property, to name a few.
It can be said that policies are emerging one after another, and the intensity of financial investment is unprecedented.
Yet, despite the government's best efforts, the public response has been incomprehensibly cold. The continuous decline in the number of newborns is undoubtedly a source of deep concern for the relevant authorities.
"We have tried our best and our sincere attitude is impeccable, but why have we still not been able to achieve a substantial breakthrough?" said Zhang, director of the Population and Family Planning Commission, in a heartbroken manner.
In the face of such a passive predicament, the government will resolutely not choose to give up easily, but will actively seek countermeasures. Through various forms of propaganda, they conveyed to the general public the seriousness of the population problem and called on everyone to actively have children for the sake of the future of the motherland.
However, this passionate patriotic cry no longer seems to have been able to truly touch the depths of the hearts and minds of contemporary young people.
"It's easy to say, but for us, having children is too much of a task. Xiao Zhang, who was born in the 90s, said frankly to the staff.
Seeing that all efforts failed to achieve the desired results, the government was caught in a dilemma.
In the face of the public's lukewarm response, the government is determined not to rest on its laurels. They organized experts and scholars to conduct in-depth research and analysis, and finally found the crux of the problem - in order to increase the fertility rate, the most fundamental strategy is to effectively improve people's living standards and provide a good environment for people to have children.
One of the most important aspects of this is to solve the housing problem for young people. In an ordinary neighborhood in the capital, the reporter interviewed a young couple who were renting a house.
"Today's housing prices are really high, and the combined salaries of the two of us are just over 10,000 yuan a month, how can we afford the mortgage?" said the couple helplessly, "If we think about having children again, then the financial pressure will be even greater."
Because of the high cost of housing, many young people shy away from the "luxury" of childbearing. Aware of this problem, the government decided to take decisive measures to curb the housing bubble.
A series of regulatory policies will be launched one after another, starting from land supply, credit support and other aspects to ensure that housing prices remain within a reasonable range, so that the majority of ordinary people can live and work in peace and contentment.
Another major obstacle is employment. In a survey conducted by the Ministry of Population, many recent graduates reported that difficulties in finding employment were the main reason for their postponement of childbearing.
"It's not easy to find a satisfying job, and the salary is generally low, so where can I have the money to raise my children?" said a recent college graduate.
Against this backdrop, the mainland government will adopt a diversification strategy, comprehensively expand the scale of the employment market, and optimize and adjust the existing economic structure, with a view to providing more abundant and diversified jobs for the vast number of young people.
In addition, it will also be committed to improving the quality of vocational skills training for workers, stimulating their inherent potential, and then driving the overall salary level up.
However, it is not enough to achieve material improvements, and ideological shaping is also crucial. The lack of population awareness is often a key factor restricting fertility levels.
In view of this situation, the mainland government resolutely announced that it would intensify its propaganda and education.
"The issue of fertility is not only a private matter of individual families, it involves the future destiny of the whole country and nation!" Holding a new set of pamphlets, the population advocacy expert enthusiastically introduced to the media, "We will use various channels and media to carry out extensive and in-depth propaganda and do our best to dispel people's worries about childbirth."
It is reported that the government plans to place a large number of public service advertisements on various major media platforms, and develop special courses for primary and secondary school students, aiming to cultivate children's healthy and scientific population concepts from an early age.
The Government will also actively debunk some long-standing rumours of childbirth to answer citizens' doubts and relieve them of their burdens.
All in all, the mainland government will make all-round efforts to effectively meet the people's livelihood needs and create a good social environment for childbirth. We firmly believe that as long as it can effectively alleviate the many problems that young people are currently facing, their confidence in fertility will be revived.
China is not the first in the world to tackle demographic issues. In fact, many countries around the world have encountered similar difficulties in their development journey. Therefore, we should be humble to learn from other countries and learn from their successful experiences.
After all, these countries have already gone through the path we are going through now, and they must have accumulated certain practical experience and lessons. Of course, we should not simply copy and copy, but should absorb and innovate according to our own national conditions and local conditions.
There is no doubt that China, as a country with a large population, has a population problem that is by no means comparable to that of other countries, and we need to learn to integrate and find the most suitable solutions for ourselves.
In this era of globalization, the public's vision is becoming more and more broad. The slogan of "patriotism" alone can no longer move people's hearts, and the government must pay attention to and respond to real interests.
Only by fundamentally eliminating the worries faced by the people and eliminating all kinds of life pressures can the people's willingness to have children be naturally enhanced! Therefore, when learning from the experience of other countries, we must learn to fully absorb the essence of them:
First and foremost, strong support at the fiscal policy level is required. Many developed countries generally provide generous subsidies in key areas such as health care and child support, which directly reduce the financial burden on families, which is undoubtedly a model that we should study and learn from in depth.
After all, money is often the biggest obstacle to fertility.
Second, we should take the initiative to support employment policies. Governments in these countries often develop unique incentives to create a large number of high-quality jobs for the younger generation, which in turn increases the income level of the society as a whole and creates a better environment for childbearing.
China can also make a big show in this field and make greater breakthroughs.
In addition, the social security system has been continuously improved. Major issues related to the national economy and people's livelihood, such as medical care, education, and old-age care, must be strongly guaranteed, so that the broad masses of the people can avoid worries about the future.
In addition, these countries have also made many commendable achievements in the field of propaganda and education, which are worthy of our serious study and reference. After all, only when the whole society can establish a correct outlook on the population can the birth policy truly play its due role.