"My husband and I do want to have a kid but we can't afford it for now," said Wang Chengyi, a 31-year-old woman in Beijing.

She told the BBC she and her partner needed to save money for another three years to provide for the costs of having a child - taking into account school expenses in particular.

"I do want to get pregnant while I'm young as it's better for my health. However, I just don't have enough money for now so I have to postpone. It's a shame and I feel panic over it sometimes," she said.

"China is no different to other countries that have deindustrialised and moved into the service sector. The population becomes more educated and skilled and healthier, and they want to do other jobs rather than work in factories or construction," said Prof Gietel-Basten.

"The government is aware of this and has planned for this over the past decade and so it's expected to continue with this kind of direction."

China records population decline for second straight year [Jan 17 2024 | Frances Mao | BBC News]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-68002803

Many people are delaying marriage or choosing not to have children. Even those who do often have only one child because of the high cost of educating children in cities in a highly competitive academic environment. The population of women of child-bearing age has also fallen.

Local governments are offering incentives for new children. A municipality in China’s Inner Mongolia region has started offering payments of 2,000 yuan ($280) for a second child and 5,000 yuan ($700) for a third, as well as requiring that employers give an extra 60 and 90 days of paid maternity leave for the second and third child respectively, according to an online report by state-owned China National Radio.

But Yuan Xin, a professor at Nankai University and vice-president of the China Population Association, added that “the downward trend in China’s total population is bound to be long-term and become an inherent characteristic.”

China’s population falls for a 2nd straight year as births drop even after end of one-child policy [Jan 17 2024 | Ken Moritsugu | Associated Press News]

https://apnews.com/article/china-population-births-deaths-covid-b0ec148b3f8db6b2863aeca02078bd7a