Despite attempts to encourage couples to have more children, China's birth rate fell to its lowest since the country was founded in 1949. The birth rate in 2018 dropped to 10.94 per thousand, down from 12.43 the previous year. The number of babies born in 2018 dropped by 2 million compared to the previous year to 15.23 million.
Wang Feng, a sociology professor at the University of California, Irving, said: "Decades of social and economic transformations have prepared an entirely new generation in China, for whom marriage and childbearing no longer have the importance they once did for their parents' generation."
Chinese demographer He Yahu said: "The low birth rate has led to a seriously ageing population. On one hand, families are getting smaller, reducing support for the elderly; on the other hand, the elderly population to workforce is growing, which increases the burden on the working population."
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