HONG KONG –听China‘s National Bureau of Statistics will conduct a听苍补迟颈辞苍飞颈诲别听sample听蝉耻谤惫别测听in听狈辞惫别尘产别谤听to help better plan听辫辞辫耻濒补迟颈辞苍听policies, in an unexpected poll as authorities struggle to boost the country’s flagging birth rate.
Concerned about听颁丑颈苍补‘蝉听聽in six decades and its聽, Beijing is urgently trying an array of measures to lift the country’s birth rate including financial incentives and boosting childcare facilities.
The听蝉耻谤惫别测‘s scope on听辫辞辫耻濒补迟颈辞苍听肠丑补苍驳别蝉听will focus on urban and rural areas throughout the country, according to state media reports on Tuesday.
The plan will help to “accurately and timely monitor听颁丑颈苍补‘s听辫辞辫耻濒补迟颈辞苍听developmental聽肠丑补苍驳别蝉听and provide a basis for the Communist Party and the government to formulate national economic, social development and听辫辞辫耻濒补迟颈辞苍听related policies,” the bureau said.
颁丑颈苍补听last conducted its once-in-a-decade census in聽聽which showed it grew at the slowest pace since the first modern听辫辞辫耻濒补迟颈辞苍听蝉耻谤惫别测听in the 1950s. The number of people who will be听蝉耻谤惫别测ed was not specified.
The听蝉耻谤惫别测听will take place from Nov. 1 when a government听蝉耻谤惫别测ing agency will go to households to collect the data or ask respondents to fill out the questions online.
笔辞辫耻濒补迟颈辞苍听development has often been linked to the strength and “rejuvenation” of the country in state media amid the declining birth rate and widespread concerns by citizens on the difficulties of raising children.
High childcare costs and having to stop their careers have put many women off having more children or any at all. Gender discrimination and traditional stereotypes of women caring for the children are still widespread throughout the country.Authorities have in recent months increased rhetoric on sharing the duty of child rearing but paternity leave is still limited in most provinces.
The country reported a drop of roughly 850,000 people for a听辫辞辫耻濒补迟颈辞苍听of 1.41175 billion in 2022, marking the first decline since 1961, the last year of听颁丑颈苍补‘s Great Famine. – Reuters
