‘Giving birth to two children is a responsibility to society’

Speaking before the National Assembly on the morning of April 21, delegate Le Thi Ngoc Linh, Chairwoman of the Women’s Union of Ca Mau province, said Vietnam is entering a new stage of development with a big challenge of rapid population aging while fertility rates fall below the replacement threshold.

According to her, the total fertility rate is currently lower than the replacement level of 2.1 children. In 2022, the fertility rate will remain around this threshold, by 2023 it will decrease to about 1.96 children and in 2024 it will continue to decrease to 1.91 children/woman. This development shows that family size is increasingly shrinking, the number of children born is not enough to maintain a stable population in the long term. Meanwhile, Vietnam is rapidly transitioning from the golden population stage to an aging population, the proportion of people aged 60 and over is increasing, while the young labor force tends to decrease.

Delegates said that to overcome the situation of low fertility, it is necessary to adjust population policy in the direction of shifting strongly from family planning to maintaining sustainable replacement fertility, with clear zoning to prioritize localities with low fertility, especially large urban areas and industrial zones.

She emphasized the role of media in changing social awareness about marriage and childbirth, encouraging marriage and childbirth at the right age, and limiting the tendency of procrastination among young people. “Encourage couples to have two children, considering this a social responsibility associated with the country’s sustainable development,” she said.

Along with that, delegates proposed that the State implement practical, long-term financial support policies for families such as supporting birth and child care costs, expanding exemptions and reductions in medical examination and treatment costs, and tax incentives for households raising children.

The child care service system also needs to be invested synchronously, expanding the network of kindergartens and kindergartens, especially in urban areas and industrial parks, and developing after-hours child care services. At the same time, the State needs to have policies to support housing, stable employment, and increase income so that young couples can feel secure in getting married and having children.

According to Ms. Linh, birth promotion policies need to be implemented proactively, synchronously and long-term, with families and women at the center, respecting the right to choose to have children but creating conditions for people to want to give birth and be able to give birth.

In the long term, she proposed that the National Assembly review and amend legal regulations related to population, labor, social security and gender equality in a consistent manner. The government needs to make timely and strong decisions to create a favorable environment for giving birth and raising children.

The revised Population Law promulgated in 2025 has added many birth promotion policies such as financial support, incentives for loans and purchases of social housing, exemption of some screening costs, and penalties for revealing the sex of the fetus to limit gender imbalance at birth.

The national birth rate in 2025 will only reach about 1.93 children per woman, threatening the goal of maintaining replacement fertility by 2030. Vietnam is also facing the risk of surplus men due to the rate of boys born being higher than the natural balance since 2006.