Communist Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong has issued a resolution on population and family planning in which families would be no longer encouraged to have only two children and couples with three children or more will not be fined.

People walking on a street in Hanoi

The country’s 25-year old population policies have seen the population growth rate under control and the number of people in working age having increased. Since 2007, Vietnam has had a golden population structure.

However, there are still many shortcomings. Regional fertility rate varies considerably and the gender imbalance is worsening. The authorities have failed to adopt any solutions to exploit the golden population structure or cope with the ageing population.

Disadvantaged people often have more children than well-off families. As a result, the human development index of Vietnam is low along with a poor malnutrition rate. Meanwhile, child and maternal mortality rates are high. 

Resolution 21 aims to switch the focus from family planning to population and development. The Communist Party of Vietnam asked to maintain the current replacement fertility rate, lower the gender imbalance between boys and girls at birth to the natural level of 105, improve the ‘population quality’ and exploit the golden population structure more effectively.

The party also set many goals. By 2030, Vietnam aims to have a population of 104 million and each woman would have an average 2.1 children. The sex ratio at birth is expected to be low with 109 males born for every 100 females. 22% are children under 15 years old and 11% are people older than 65. Average life expectancy is 75 years old with at least 68 years of healthy life. The human development index is expected to be in the South East Asia's top four.

State officials are encouraged to have at least two children to set the models for the public. However, families in areas with too high fertility rate will be persuaded to have fewer children. 

Fines for couples with more than three children will be removed. Regulations over gender selection will be tightened and promotions for gender equality will step up.

dtinews