The latest report of the HCM City Sub-department of Population and Family Planning said that the current fertility rate of childbearing women in the city is 1.32, which is lower than last year’s 1.42 figure.

In the last 20 years, the birth rate in HCM City has been 1.24 to 1.7, much lower than Vietnam’s replacement fertility rate of 2-2.1 children per woman.

Hoang Thi Diem Tuyet, director of Hung Vuong Hospital, said that young women, especially in large cities, tend to have fewer babies because of financial capability, education costs or job opportunities. The increasingly high costs of raising children has put pressure on young families and forced them to think carefully before having children.

HCM City authorities have been aware of the risk from low fertility rate and have launched policies to encourage women to have at least two children and have given financial support to families with many children. However, Tuyet said that the policies are not attractive enough to persuade young couples to have more babies.

She said that the policies need to be designed in a comprehensive way. Young couples not only want financial support for each child, but also support in medical services and education.

Dr Le Truong Giang, chair of the HCM City Public Health Association, said that it is time to stop policies on controlling fertility rates and shift to encouraging fertility, and to change the motto ‘Every couple should have two children’ to ‘Every couple determines the number of children they have”.

According to the HCM City Sub-department of Population and Family Planning, the city is entering aging population period with over 1.1 million people aged over 60, which accounts for 12.05 percent of the city’s population.

The aging population in HCM City and other large cities is partially attributed to low birth rates, low death rates and an increase in average life expectancy. The length of life after retirement has increased, thus putting pressure on the health and pension system.

The agency has proposed policies to encourage fertility to improve the birth rate. Increasing the birth rate should be included in the resolutions of the city’s annual People’s Council on socio-economic development targets.

In 2024, HCM City targets a birth rate of 1.36 per woman. The targeted number of people using modern contraceptives is 450,000.

Linh Trang