CV NEWS FEED // Several Chinese hospitals have suspended newborn delivery services this year, citing the country’s plummeting birth rate as the reason for closing.
Reuters reported on March 19 that hospitals in various provinces have announced the closure of their obstetrics department, with some shutdowns already in effect.
“The closures come as Chinese policymakers grapple with how to boost young couples’ desire to have children as authorities face a growing demographic headache of a rapidly aging society,” the news agency reported.
Reuters found in January that the Chinese population dropped by over 2 million people in 2023, with roughly 9 million births and 11.1 million deaths recorded that year. Facing high costs of education and child care, along with an unstable job market, Chinese women are reluctant to have children.
On average, a woman in China can be expected to have one child in her lifetime, according to the total fertility rate reported in a Peterson Institute for International Economics article. According to the international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, a total fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman keeps the population mostly stable.
