HONG KONG — Seeing Chinese authorities exercise extraordinary powers during a stringent COVID\u002D19 lockdown in Shanghai earlier this year altered Claire Jiang’s…
During the April-May lockdown, the hashtag “we are the last generation” briefly went viral on Chinese social media before being censored.
Studies have shown that pandemics and economic uncertainty historically weigh on birth rates around the world.Article content “China is obviously big government and small family,” said prominent Chinese demographer Yi Fuxian. “China’s zero-COVID policy has led to a zero economy, zero marriages, zero fertility.”Article content
A separate U.N. China report said the pandemic had a long-term impact on first births, with women citing financial insecurity, unsubstantiated worries about COVID vaccines affecting fetuses, along with difficulties in carrying a pregnancy and taking care of an infant under heavy restrictions.Article content
Screening for birth defects – a reliable proxy for birthrates – in China’s third most populous province Henan fell 9.5% year-on-year in the first six months.Article content But demographers say they do offer a glimpse into how COVID-19 restrictions in 2020 and 2021 affected births and expect 2022 to be worse.Article content