New research helps explain why China’s low birth rates are stuck
Spillover effects may be to blame
The scars left by China’s population-control policies are clear. Last year, its population started to fall for the first time since 1962; its working-age population has been declining for a decade. A shrinking workforce acts as a drag on growth, and a swelling number of elderly puts pressure on the welfare system.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Stuck in the trap”
From the June 3rd 2023 edition
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