HANOI, Vietnam — Vietnam has scrapped a policy that limited couples to have up to two children, as it addresses a declining birth rate and a shrinking working-age population.
The two-child policy, in place since 2009 to prevent overpopulation, restricted families to one or two children.
While enforcement was relaxed for ordinary citizens, the policy was strictly applied to government officials and members of the ruling Communist Party.
If this trend continues, the so-called “golden population” period, when the working-age population significantly outnumbers dependents, will end in less than 15 years, the ministry said.
Like many countries, Vietnam is also facing challenges with an aging population “Vietnam is facing a fundamental challenge that no country in East Asia has yet succeeded in significantly addressing: population aging,” says Jonathan London, a senior economic advisor to Vietnam at the United Nations Development Program.
HANOI, Vietnam — In response to a decreasing birth rate and a shrinking working-age population, Vietnam has repealed a law that had restricted couples to having no more than two children.
Politicians in Vietnam passed new amendments to the Population Law on Tuesday, allowing families to choose how many children to have.
Families were only allowed to have one or two children under the two-child policy, which was implemented in 2009 to prevent overcrowding. Ordinary citizens were exempt from the policy’s strict enforcement, but government officials and members of the ruling Communist Party were.
According to the Ministry of Health, there are just over 100 million people in the country, with a median age of 33.4 years and almost 70% of them between the ages of 15 and 64. However, the ministry issued a warning that in 2024, the country’s fertility rate fell to 1 point 91 per woman, which is below the replacement level and the lowest in modern Vietnam.
The ministry stated that if this pattern persists, the so-called “golden population” period—during which the working-age population greatly outnumbers dependents—will come to an end in less than 15 years.
worries about how much raising children will cost.
“This new law is unclear to me,” says 42-year-old Hanoi housewife Tran Phuong Mai. “It might be beneficial, but it’s a bit late for us. “.
Nguyen Manh Hung, Mai’s 42-year-old husband, was a mid-level Communist Party member and a local government official. After Mai became pregnant with their third child more than ten years ago, he resigned. She says, “We didn’t want him to face trouble, but it was a tough decision.”.
“We have the option to have five or six children if we so choose, but I believe that I am past the ideal age to have children, and raising a child is very costly,” Mai states.
Cost concerns are echoed by sociologists, who estimate that the average monthly income is less than 10 to 20 million Vietnamese dong ($380 to $760) for raising a child from birth to age 22.
On Tuesday, Health Minister Dao Hong Lan informed parliament that removing child limits “aligns with international practice” and that several nations, like Vietnam, have abandoned birth control laws. For instance, neighboring China has permitted couples to have up to three children since 2021 after lifting its one-child ban in 2016.
Vietnam is experiencing issues related to an aging population, just like many other nations.
According to Jonathan London, a senior economic advisor to Vietnam at the United Nations Development Program, “Vietnam is facing a fundamental challenge that no country in East Asia has yet succeeded in significantly addressing: population aging,”.
Regarding the removal of the two-child limit, London states, “This measure needs to be accompanied by other supports for children and families, and especially women.”. “These policies can make a big difference, but they will need to be very focused, consistent, and large-scale in order to have a real breakthrough effect. “,”.
Given that boys are typically favored in Vietnam’s patriarchal society, lawmakers are also tackling sex imbalances brought on by prenatal gender selection. For prenatal sex selection, the Ministry of Health has suggested raising the fines for potential parents from 30 million Vietnamese dong ($1,150) to a maximum of 100 million ($3,800).
