The Chinese government has recently introduced a number of measures to encourage childbirth, intending to increase the declining birth rate year by year. However, the public's response to the policy of encouraging childbirth is not as expected, and there are even voices of doubt and disgust. Faced with economic pressure, workplace competition and high child-rearing costs, many young people remain on the sidelines or even resist childbirth. At the same time, the rise of women's self-awareness has also made it difficult for the traditional concept of "promoting childbirth" to take root in people's hearts.

High cost and parenting pressure: realistic considerations of the burden of childbirth

For many Chinese families, the economic burden of raising children is huge. In addition to basic living expenses, education expenses are the top priority. Ms. Ma from Nanjing pointed out that in order to let their children win at the starting line, parents have to invest a lot of time and money in tutoring, special classes and other training. A class often costs hundreds of yuan, and parents generally choose education in many aspects such as English, music, and sports. She said that the cost of raising a child alone is already unbearable. If three children are raised according to the government's three-child policy, the cost of raising children will be unbearable for the family.

In addition, housing expenses have also hit the willingness to have children. High housing prices have made many young people afraid to get married and have children, especially the pressure from "school district housing" is more significant. Ms. Xu from Guangzhou made it clear that she and her husband decided to be "DINKs" because she could not afford both the sky-high kindergarten and the "school district housing".

Birth-inducing measures questioned: people's aversion to "birth-inducing" calls and propaganda

Recently, governments across China have taken a variety of radical measures to promote childbirth, including setting up "birth-inducing offices", door-to-door persuasion, and even phone inquiries about pregnancy. On social media, many people reported receiving inquiries such as "Are you pregnant?" and "When do you plan to have a baby?" These direct "birth-inducing" methods made many people feel uncomfortable. Some regions even took the approach of visiting young people to force them to consider having children. Such forced urging has made many people feel stressed and even caused strong aversion.

Some netizens posted on social media to question: "If having children is really good for women, is it necessary to induce births so hard?" Some medical professionals also pointed out that the propaganda claiming that "pregnancy makes women smarter" lacks scientific basis. Many studies have shown that women's brain structure will change after pregnancy, leading to problems such as distraction and memory loss. These effects will not recover quickly, so the promotion of childbirth cannot impress most people.

The benefits and powerlessness of fertility policy: economic support is difficult to solve the fundamental problem

In order to increase the fertility rate, the government has introduced a series of economic support policies. Since the State Council issued the fertility support policy, 23 provinces across the country have formulated fertility subsidy plans at different levels and increased the personal income tax deduction for infant care and children's education. Not only that, many places have also extended maternity leave and included assisted reproductive technology in medical insurance. However, the introduction of policies has not significantly changed the current situation of low fertility rates. Ms. Ma from Nanjing admitted that the government's subsidies and incentives are not really attractive because the cost of raising a child far exceeds the subsidy amount.

Not only that, in many cities, the threshold for marriage has also been greatly increased. Ms. Zhang from Shanghai mentioned that as a single woman, she not only faces high rents, but also worries about unstable economic conditions. She really has no energy and financial ability to consider the issue of marriage and having children. She said bluntly: "Whether to have children or not is my business, and the country's urging can only make me more disgusted."

The rise of women's self-awareness: self-realization takes precedence over marriage and childbearing

The social concepts of Chinese women have changed significantly in recent years. More and more women are paying attention to personal development and self-realization rather than the traditional role positioning of marriage and childbearing. Lu Chenwei, a researcher at the Chinese Strategic Foresight Association in Taiwan, pointed out that the gender awareness and workplace concepts of Chinese women have gradually surpassed the traditional model, and many women are more willing to prioritize self-worth rather than just meet the needs of marriage and childbearing.

Some women also have more thoughts on the conflict between childbearing and the workplace. In the workplace, employers often have prejudices against women's childbearing, and their career development after childbearing is hindered. In such a workplace environment, many women are more cautious about childbearing. They are worried that childbearing will not only lead to stagnation in their own career development, but may also lead to dual economic and psychological pressures.

Transformation of childbearing culture: from "raising children to prevent old age" to "individual value"

The concept of "raising children to prevent old age" in traditional Chinese society is gradually weakening. Modern young people's cognition of childbearing has undergone a fundamental change, and childbearing is no longer regarded as an inevitable choice in life. Ms. Xu from Guangzhou said frankly that she and her husband hope to spend more time and money on their own interests and enjoyment of life, and do not want to be bound by child-rearing. Such ideas are becoming more and more common among young people. They hope to freely choose their lifestyle and no longer be bound by traditional social concepts.

How to find a balance in fertility policy

At present, the Chinese government's attention to fertility reflects its concerns about changes in the population structure. However, simple economic incentives and means of stimulating births are difficult to deal with fundamental problems. To truly increase the fertility rate, it is necessary to fully consider the economic pressure, workplace restrictions and self-realization needs faced by young people, further promote the progress of social gender concepts, and establish a more complete social security system so that young people can choose whether to have children without increasing pressure.

The challenge of this fertility policy is not only related to the birth rate figures, but also involves the transformation of social values. In the future, only when individual rights and social responsibilities are balanced can the fertility policy truly achieve the desired effect.