The Ministry of Health has proposed to encourage spouses to have a maximum of two children in low-birth-rate area while attempting to tighten birth control elsewhere.

The ministry's draft Law of Population will replace the population ordinance. The Ministry of Justice will hold a meeting with agencies to gather opinions.

The Ministry of Health has proposed two solutions. First is keeping the same two-child policy despite shortcomings. Each family is encouraged to have only one or two children, except in special cases.

The second is to encourage spouses to have two children in areas with low birth rates. Spouses will have full control when they have their children. Meanwhile, the authorities will encourage fewer births in areas with high birth rate.

The ministry don't encourage families to have too many children nor to have only one child or none at all. They aim to maintain a suitable replacement level to ensure that Vietnam's population won't reach more than 98 million in 2020.

There are many opinions that if Vietnam doesn't loosen the two-child policy now, the birth rate will only get lower and Vietnam may face the same ageing population problem as China.

Dtinews/VOV