Vietnam Ends Two-Child Policy to Tackle Falling Birth Rates
Vietnam has abolished its long-standing two-child policy to tackle concerns about declining birth and fertility rates.
The National Assembly Standing Committee approved a new regulation lifting the restriction, permitting couples to freely choose the timing, number, and spacing of their children on Tuesday, state media reports.
The fertility rate in Vietnam, Southeast Asia's third-most-populous nation, has fallen to 1.91 births per woman in 2024, according to the Vietnam General Statistics Office.
This is well below the replacement threshold of 2.1 needed to maintain the population size.
Vietnam introduced its two-child policy in 1988 to curb rapid population growth, when the average woman had more than four children.
The law restricted most families to one or two children, with exceptions in special cases.
Enforcement was stricter for Communist Party members, who faced penalties including warnings, reduced bonuses, or dismissal from positions for violations.
Vietnam's decision to scrap its two-child policy followed a steady decrease in birth rates since 2022, when the fertility rate dropped to 2.01 and declined again to 1.93 in 2023.
Health officials have expressed concern that the nation's population of nearly 100 million may begin to contract by mid-century.
Authorities have also cited gender imbalances and the ongoing shift toward a "super-aged society," with projections that over 20 percent of Vietnamese will be age 65 or older by 2049.
Under the new regulation, all families-regardless of Party membership-can now choose freely how many children to have and when.
Vietnam's policy shift aligns with recent moves in other Asian countries also experiencing plunging fertility rates and rapid aging.
China saw a slight uptick in its birth rate in 2024, attributed mainly to cultural factors such as the Year of the Dragon, despite wide-ranging pro-natal measures and the end of restrictive family policies.
Meanwhile, the country's overall population has continued to shrink for the third consecutive year.
Japan, facing a decades-long population decline and with nearly 30 percent of its population over age 65, is preparing to make childbirth free as early as April 2026.
The Japanese government proposes that public health insurance cover all delivery costs nationwide, attempting to alleviate financial burdens on families.
The United Nations Population Fund says: "Vietnam is in the period of population aging. The process of population aging is progressing rapidly, caused by mortality and fertility declines, and life expectancy at birth increase and that transition from an 'aging' to an 'aged' population will occur within just 20 years."
The Vietnamese Ministry of Health is expected to submit a new population law to the National Assembly in 2025, aimed at sustaining fertility rates near replacement level while monitoring the ongoing demographic transition and the effects of the relaxed family planning rules.
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