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China's birth rate has collapsed completely. 19.7m births were registered in 2012, compared to 7.8m births in 2023

China speedrunning demographic collapse to catch up with Japan and South Korea has really been something to witness

Most Chinese people know that their nation is unmanageable at a population of 1.4 billion though and trimming the nations population under a billion would benefit them in the long run
 
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lazyheaven

Neo Member
China's total population has already crested. From here it will only pick up speed as it goes downhill. Population size is a trailing indicator of demographics, so the next few decades of population loss are essentially locked in. Some of the latest projections now show that by the year 2100, China will lose almost 2/3 of its population.

Here's an article about it from today's WSJ (no paywall): China Is Pressing Women to Have More Babies. Many Are Saying No.

Interestingly, among other efforts to push up the Chinese birthrate, China is now also using its vast online censorship apparatus to suppress all content on Chinese social media that casts marriage or childbearing in a negative light.
 
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kittoo

Cretinously credulous
Till recently I've been very pessimistic about nations whose birth rates have been collapsing, but seeing the sudden advancements in AI and automation, maybe they can cushion it? That would be best of both worlds for homogenous countries like China, Japan and South Korea etc.

But countries where demographics are being upended and cultural values are at risk, like whole western Europe, yeah AI and automation wont help them.
 

Tams

Member
Donald Glover Reaction GIF
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
if china's economy collapses ours will too. we are so screwed.

Population collapse doesn't happen overnight, its a gradual process.

There's a bitter irony in that China could really use mass immigration, but of course Europe is a much more attractive destination. Guess they prefer former colonizers to present-day despots...
 

Pejo

Gold Member
I always find it more interesting and concerning when you look more at WHO is having kids instead of how many specifically. From my anecdotal evidence, it seems like more people that SHOULDN'T be having kids ARE (people on government programs and unable to sustain their own lives, often leaving children unsupervised and unparented, which creates more problems), and people who COULD properly support a child (both monetarily and from a familial view point) are choosing not to for a number of reasons.

It just seems like a race to the bottom with the destruction of the family unit at its core. Then again, I'm sure somebody has some scientific study to tell me I'm stupid or something, but that's what I feel from what I directly see with my own eyes.
 

kittoo

Cretinously credulous
I always find it more interesting and concerning when you look more at WHO is having kids instead of how many specifically. From my anecdotal evidence, it seems like more people that SHOULDN'T be having kids ARE (people on government programs and unable to sustain their own lives, often leaving children unsupervised and unparented, which creates more problems), and people who COULD properly support a child (both monetarily and from a familial view point) are choosing not to for a number of reasons.

It just seems like a race to the bottom with the destruction of the family unit at its core. Then again, I'm sure somebody has some scientific study to tell me I'm stupid or something, but that's what I feel from what I directly see with my own eyes.

Idiocracy!
 

DaGwaphics

Member
The "one -child" policy was in place for so long that it probably limits those that have the means to support a big family from doing that (not a cultural norm at this point). It's wild that the birth rates went down after the strict limits were removed.
 

kittoo

Cretinously credulous
India has a fertility rate of 2.0 so their population should be declining soon too and that’s not a bad thing - that population level is one of the reasons why the quality of life is so low there.

India is at a reasonable sweet spot right now I feel. The birth rate has not yet tanked completely and the decline is also gradual. At the same time population is still expected to grow for some time due to increased lifespans etc. Meanwhile AI and automation is coming up which might balance things out in near future.

So India feels like at a sweetspot where population decline is somewhat far away and projected to be gradual, while AI and automation comes up, so there is comfortable room for some time. And frankly, plateauing at about 1.6B and then gradual decline is good. No need of more population
 

NoobSmog

Member
This is a good thing, the world can only support so many people. We are lucky this is a problem that seems to fix itself in overpopulated countries rather than having to come up with a solution.
 

Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions
India's birth rate is also tanking.

Uninformed Malthusians still exist, but the world is going to start getting smaller by the end of the century.
Im pretty sure India is growing at a fantastic rate.

And they are young, with their whole futures ahead of them.

You should give this video a watch - incredible stuff.

 

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Word on the street is men and women are finding it difficult to like each other the world over.
 

JimmyRustler

Gold Member
The younger generation can’t even afford homes, let alone a family.
Ridiculous and human history is living proof of that. Money is part of the problem but not the big chunck of it. People simply don't want to take responsibility and time to have and raise a family any more. Rather have party and waste time on social media. Women being more choosy then ever. And more...

Heck, as someone who would love to have kids just for the sake of it I feel like a stone cold relic.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
I always find it more interesting and concerning when you look more at WHO is having kids instead of how many specifically. From my anecdotal evidence, it seems like more people that SHOULDN'T be having kids ARE (people on government programs and unable to sustain their own lives, often leaving children unsupervised and unparented, which creates more problems), and people who COULD properly support a child (both monetarily and from a familial view point) are choosing not to for a number of reasons.

It just seems like a race to the bottom with the destruction of the family unit at its core. Then again, I'm sure somebody has some scientific study to tell me I'm stupid or something, but that's what I feel from what I directly see with my own eyes.
Typically, it seems the people who have the most kids per capita are poor country countries.

Often the theory is poor people have more kids because they are struggling and the more kids you have, the better long term benefits for family success because when they get older they can help out on the farm or some other general labourer kind of job they do for survival. There may be some truth to that, but that doesn't explain why low income people in western countries also have more kids when the vast majority of people do not work those kinds of jobs. I dont buy any theory that poor people in the US have more kids because they need more family members when they are old enough to work physically demanding jobs for family survival.

Overall, there's probably a mix of many factors whys poor people have more kids:

- Irresponsible. Many probably have a bad PT job or zero job so they are sitting around, so might as well fuck
- They need more farm hands factor I wrote above
- Poor access or no money for contraceptives
- They might live in a place where having abortions or using contraceptives is a societal no-no
- They got nothing to lose because if you're dirt poor, having an extra kid doesn't really cost you much more because the kid is going to scrape by with minimal food and clothes etc... A person living well with a good job, house, bank account etc... knows that to support children with amped up stuff similar to them it'll cost a lot of money, which would include buying a bigger house or another car that costs a ton of moolah. So if they enjoy a certain lifestyle with money to spare, why rock the boat with too many kids killing the bank account. Also, people living richer will want to pass down their assets down the family tree because they know cost of living is high. Many already do this immediately by setting up trust funds when they are a kid cashable when they are an adult. And the fewer kids you got, the more you can build up assets. It's more about fewer kids but each has more resources. Long term vision. Poor people would never really think about this concept because they got little chance of building up assets to hand down anyway

It's an interesting issue because you'd think that a richer family with more cash would have more kids because heck they can afford it with their bigger houses. While poorer people would have fewer kids because if they are already struggling supporting themselves, why intensify the struggle having more kids putting them in a poverty situation from day one. But it is what it is.
 
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JimmyRustler

Gold Member
Typically, it seems the people who have the most kids per capita are poor country countries.

Often the theory is poor people have more kids because they are struggling and the more kids you have, the better long term benefits for family success because when they get older they can help out on the farm or some other general labourer kind of job they do for survival. There may be some truth to that, but that doesn't explain why low income people in western countries also have more kids when the vast majority of people do not work those kinds of jobs. I dont buy any theory that poor people in the US have more kids because they need more family members when they are old enough to work physically demanding jobs for family survival.

Overall, there's probably a mix of many factors whys poor people have more kids:

- Irresponsible. Many probably have a bad PT job or zero job so they are sitting around, so might as well fuck
- They need more farm hands factor I wrote above
- Poor access or no money for contraceptives
- They might live in a place where having abortions or using contraceptives is a societal no-no
- They got nothing to lose because if you're dirt poor, having an extra kid doesn't really cost you much more because the kid is going to scrape by with minimal food and clothes etc... A person living well with a good job, house, bank account etc... knows that to support children with amped up stuff similar to them it'll cost a lot of money. So if they enjoy a certain lifestyle with money to spare, why rock the boat with too many kids killing the bank account. Also, people living richer will want to pass down their assets down the family tree because they know cost of living is high. And the fewer kids you got, the more you can build up assets. Poor people would really think about this concept because they got little chance of building up assets to hand down anyway
You're overanalysing mate. Take away peoples smartphones and birthrates would be back to normal in 1-2 years. I guarantee it.

People are way to distracted by pleasurable stuff these days. Take away those distractions and people will again start to seek meaning in their life through kids. It's a tale as old as time. That's why childless people often regret not having kids with age. It's when the pleasurable distractions become meaningless and hollow.
 

Mr Reasonable

Completely Unreasonable
lol not sure this video just came to mind
Sorry, didn't mean to make it seem like I was asking you specifically, I just wondered what the reason could be. I assume that there's some sort of cultural resonance I'm not privy to.

I will say also that that woman doesn't (though admittedly blurred) have the classic appearance of a Russian woman. To me, She looks to be the same race as the man proposing. So it seems to me that someone is trying to say something about Chinese/Russian relations.
 

Bojji

Member
You're overanalysing mate. Take away peoples smartphones and birthrates would be back to normal in 1-2 years. I guarantee it.

People are way to distracted by pleasurable stuff these days. Take away those distractions and people will again start to seek meaning in their life through kids. It's a tale as old as time. That's why childless people often regret not having kids with age. It's when the pleasurable distractions become meaningless and hollow.

Birthrates were collapsing in western countries way before smartphones were a thing. Japan birthrate crisis can be linked to oil problems few decades ago for example. It's mostly exactly what StreetsofBeige have said. Poor, lower educated people don't give a fuck and rest are struggling with their own lives with current economy so kids are a terrifying prospect for them. In Poland most people who don't have kids talk about not being able to support them financially. Of course many people just don't want kids, I'm 34 (my woman is 35) and we don't even know if we want to have kids (we have met 3 years ago but clock is ticking for her so we don't have much time for decisions), financial reasons are part of the problem and "not having life" anymore after birth is another.

There are many reasons for current state of things.
 

kittoo

Cretinously credulous
You're overanalysing mate. Take away peoples smartphones and birthrates would be back to normal in 1-2 years. I guarantee it.

People are way to distracted by pleasurable stuff these days. Take away those distractions and people will again start to seek meaning in their life through kids. It's a tale as old as time. That's why childless people often regret not having kids with age. It's when the pleasurable distractions become meaningless and hollow.

I was talking to a couple who both are my friends. They like to travel the world (even have a Instagram page for that) and often take 3-4 overseas trips per year. Its been about 5 years they've been married and all I hear is that they are not ready for kids as it would affect their travel. Recently the girl turned 35 so I thought I would ask them as a friend that they might miss out on life-changing and affirming thing called having children. I myself recently had a girl and I personally have not known a more joyous thing in life.

The answer she gave me was that they have about 6-7 bucket list places to go to still and only after that would they think of having children. Now I get that everyone has their own mindset and priorities but it boggles my mind that people cant see short-term vs long-term. They can always travel again a couple years after the baby, but having a baby will only get exponentially harder from now on as she will be nearing 40 soon. How can one compare traveling with having a baby? I mean sure traveling is great but having a baby is like giving meaning to one's life. Its what we are hard-wired to do, what we are created to do and is the greatest event in one's life.

Money is not an issue with them either. Both earn very well. I just didnt want to see them turn 40, having fulfilled the 'bucket list' of travel and yet lost forever on the greatest bucket list item life can give. But these days I keep seeing people who realize they actually DO want kids until its so late. Then they give it their all- money, efforts, doctors, medicines but that joy keeps eluding. Everything has a time and place but people these days have forgotten that.
 

JimmyRustler

Gold Member
Birthrates were collapsing in western countries way before smartphones were a thing. Japan birthrate crisis can be linked to oil problems few decades ago for example. It's mostly exactly what StreetsofBeige have said. Poor, lower educated people don't give a fuck and rest are struggling with their own lives with current economy so kids are a terrifying prospect for them. In Poland most people who don't have kids talk about not being able to support them financially. Of course many people just don't want kids, I'm 34 (my woman is 35) and we don't even know if we want to have kids (we have met 3 years ago but clock is ticking for her so we don't have much time for decisions), financial reasons are part of the problem and "not having life" anymore after birth is another.

There are many reasons for current state of things.
I said smartphones are one of the problems, not the only one. I mean, be real man.

I take you... Imagine... I take away your smartphone, I take away your videogames, I take away your internet. What you gonna do? Sit at home all day and read books? Boy would you and your wife would start talking about kids after only a few weeks... and you know it. I has little to do with economy. I'm sure you have enough money to buy food and if not you'd get inventive. Hell, I remember my mom used to make this HUGE bowl of some Balkan soup with beans and we'd eat that shit for 3-4 days with bread. And basic clothing for your kids I'm sure you can afford too. Heck, I remember growing up on second hand clothes until I was a teen. It wasn't pretty but I survived.

Problem is, nobody wants to cut back anymore. You just gotta admit that it's less the problem that you can't afford kids but that you don't want to cut back on your lifestyle. Because that you naturally can't afford no more with kids.
 
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