HanoiBaby Tom started going to school, eating by herself, Ms. Phuong in Hoang Mai district was less strenuous, but found “tired of economic pressure” so she did not want to give birth anymore.
Since the birth of a boy, it was difficult to raise. “Every time we feed the child is a wrestling match, the couple must regularly take their child to the park, doing tricks while feeding the baby,” said Phuong, 33, when she was born. Anorexia, weight loss, poor health, every two or three months, baby Shrimp has to be hospitalized once.
In the evenings when the baby cries and cries, the couple stays up at night to calm their children. Many times the husband came home tired, the wife was busy taking care of the children and could not have enough time to eat, gradually arose quarrels from small things.
By the time my child entered first grade, the care was not as heavy as before, but it was so economical. The cost of studying for a child a month costs half of the whole family’s cost, including studying at school, learning English and learning to dance, not counting drinking, weekends, clothes …
“When the baby grows up, the family intends to let him learn more Math, Physics, Chemistry … If not, he will be inferior to his friends”, Ms. Phuong said.
That is why Phuong does not want to have more. If you have a second child, all costs must be equal to the first. Maybe the one who goes to an international school, the one who goes to a normal school, the one to learn soft skills, the one who doesn’t? … So, my family can’t worry.
“Having a baby will have the best conditions for taking care of the baby,” she said. Moreover, being pregnant, taking maternity leave, getting back to work with high pressure makes her afraid to give birth.
Two years younger than Phuong, Ha from Cau Giay district, still does not want to get married because he is afraid of giving birth. Every time from Hanoi to Thai Binh, the parents kept urging their daughter to get married. Ha stress, do not want to go home anymore.
“Now being free, happy, getting married, having children, getting worse, losing shape … losing all youth”, Ha said. “I am not ready for the birth of a baby so if I have a baby I will not be able to bring the best.” Working in a business, Ha is economically self-sufficient. In her free time, the girl often restes, travels to relax herself.
The baby was born at Tu Du Hospital. Image: Le Phuong.
Mr. Mai Trung Son, Deputy Director of the Department of Population Size – Family Planning, Ministry of Health, said that the tendency of late marriage, not wanting to give birth, having less or sparse births is increasing.
21 provinces and cities have a fertility rate of less than 2 children, accounting for 39% of the population size, most of which have developed socio-economic conditions such as the Southeast and the Mekong River Delta. In which, 5 centrally-run cities, especially Ho Chi Minh City, are among the lowest in the country with a fertility rate of 1.39 children.
According to Mr. Son, economic development leads to high pressure to find jobs, housing, cost of living, cost of raising and taking care of children; Education, improved living conditions, trendy lifestyles and enjoying psychology have certain impacts on low fertility.
A study by the University of Social Sciences and Humanities of Ho Chi Minh City also shows that for many young people, the number one purpose of marriage is to have people to share life, then towards birth. produce to maintain the breed, satisfy social standards …
According to experts, low fertility will be detrimental to the demographic structure and socio-economic development in the future. Reducing births will put increasing pressure on the social security system for the elderly, declining human resources, especially young workers. Later, a child will have to face the problem of taking care of two parents and four grandparents and grandparents.
Data from the Ministry of Health also shows that Vietnam’s population growth is steadily decreasing. During the 10 years from 1989 to 1999, Vietnam’s population increased by an average of 1.2 million people per year. In the following decade, the country increased by 0.94 million people each year. Since 2010, Vietnam has added 0.95 million people on average a year.
Mr. Nguyen Doan Tu, General Director of Population – Family Planning, Ministry of Health, said that after nearly three decades of applying the policy to encourage each family to have only one or two children to eradicate poverty. Vietnam keeps the total fertility rate (average number of children per woman of reproductive age) at 2.1 children per mother.
This is the replacement fertility level needed to sustain the population. If fertility is lower, the population will quickly “age”, creating more pressure on social security and health care services for the elderly. The population size that declines early and rapidly declines if fertility falls below replacement level, it will be difficult to bring fertility back, despite large investments in fertility promotion policies. In addition, the lower the fertility rate in areas with developed socio-economic conditions will increase the fertility gap between regions and regions across the country.
According to Mr. Tu, Vietnam is one of the fastest aging countries in the world. While developed countries have to go through many decades to transition from population aging to an aging population such as France: 115 years, Australia: 73 years, China: 26 years, this process in Vietnam only takes place in 15 years. Vietnam entered the population aging period in 2011 and is expected to become an aging country by 2038, when the proportion of people aged 60 and over accounts for 20%.
Solutions are proposed to maintain replacement fertility. The General Department of Population has proposed to abolish regulations related to birth reduction goals, amend and supplement policies to support and encourage couples to have two full children; Focusing on priority subjects, workers from industrial zones and economic zones to encourage the birth of two children in the locality.
HCMC is home to the lowest fertility rate in the country. The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Population and Planning proposes to exempt and reduce hospital fees, increase the time of maternity leave for parents, support loans, and buy a house with the couple having two children.
In the last two years, the Government has also moved from promoting the birth of one or two children to “having two full children”. The Prime Minister signed a decision approving the “Program to adjust fertility levels suitable to regions and subjects until 2030”, which encourages men and women to get married before 30 years old, having 2 children is ideal.
However, for Ha, the girl is very satisfied with the single life, so her birth has not been thought of. As for Ms. Phuong, “wait a few years to see how the family economy is to calculate”.
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