National population survey launched to help optimize fertility support policies

Children have fun at a water park in Fuling District, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Aug. 18, 2024. (Photo: Xinhua)

China has officially launched a fresh round of population and family development surveys aimed at understanding family dynamics and reproductive behaviors, ultimately providing data to enhance fertility support policies.

The survey will encompass 150 monitored counties and 1,500 communities, sampling a total of 30,000 individuals. It seeks to identify key factors influencing public attitudes toward childbearing, address the challenges families face, and analyze the sentiments of reluctance and fear surrounding having children, ultimately providing scientific evidence to enhance fertility support policies and incentive measures, according to a statement by China Population and Development Research Center, a public institution directly under National Health Commission (NHC), on Thursday.

Song Jian, a demographer from the Center for Population and Development Studies of the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times that since the implementation of the three-child policy and its supporting measures in 2021, the government has established a fertility support policy system, and various regions have actively implemented these measures. We need to understand how families perceive these policies and what unmet needs still exist.

"A nationwide representative sampling survey will provide answers to these questions and help refine the policy framework with data support."

Regarding the extent to which this survey can effectively address the issue of young people "not wanting to have children" or "not daring to have children," Song noted that while the survey itself cannot solve the problem, it can reveal underlying issues and provide data to support solutions. The fertility support policies must be targeted and based on a deep and accurate understanding of family needs, she emphasized.

The last time a nationwide family and fertility survey was carried out was in 2021, according to the center. It said that in 2017, 2019, and 2021, the NHC conducted three national fertility and parenting surveys, providing in-depth analysis and research on population development across various regions, particularly focusing on fertility levels, willingness to have children and parenting needs.

Since 2022, influenced by multiple factors such as changing attitudes toward childbirth and a decrease in the number of women of childbearing age, China has experienced negative population growth, shifting from a phase of population increase to one of decrease. This demographic development is characterized by evident trends such as declining birth rates, an aging population, and regional disparities in population changes.

By the end of 2022, the mainland population was 1.41 billion, having decreased by 850,000 from 2021, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS) showed. It is the first time the country's population has recorded negative growth in 61 years since 1962.

It took more than a year to prepare for this new round of surveys and was activated following the approval of a comprehensive sampling plan by the NBS on October 11, 2024, the center said.

Song told the Global Times there are some prominent fertility supporting needs waiting to be addressed. For example, do financial subsidies effectively encourage childbirth? How does the fertility status vary across different demographics? And how do families perceive their childcare needs?

According to the center, to ensure high-quality survey results, the first training session for the survey was held in Xining, Northwest China's Qinghai Province from October 14 to 15. More than 130 people from 34 monitoring counties in seven provinces and one municipality participated in the on-site training.