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N
guyen Thanh Nhan, a 36 year old teacher in Hanoi,
has been married for nearly a decade. Normally,
after getting married, a couple is supported by their
parents with a sum of money to help them set-
tle down; however, Nhan and her husband’s family are not
wealthy and cannot assist them very much.
She, her husband and her eight year old son have lived
in a boarding house on Hoang Hoa Tham street since the
marriage. “About four years ago, people suggested I should
have another child, but we cannot as we live with a lack of
stability,” she said.
The same decision has been reached by many young cou-
ples who have more financial means but simply feel that one
child is enough for them.
NO EASY DECISION
28 year old Hoai An, a fashion worker, felt pressured by
her employer’s constant complaints about his female staff.
He bemoaned their effectiveness during pregnancy and after
giving birth, and complained that they were often late. “I obvi-
ously felt that I should not be like this or I would be at risk of
losing my job,” said Hoai An.
Dang Thi May and her husband work for a company in Noi
Bai Industrial Zone. They have to struggle to live on a small
combined income in a rented 12 square meter room. May is
afraid of having a child because they can not take good care
of it in their present situation. “I have made a commitment to
company and said I will not have a child until after two years
of working here,” said May.
According to the director of Vietnam General Office for
Population and Family Planning, Duong Quoc Trong, in the
past, each woman had more than six children on average, but
now the number is just two. The alarming reduction of the to-
tal fertility rate (TFR) in many regions, especially Ho Chi Minh
City, is causing threats to the stability of the future popula-
tion. The figure for Ho Chi Minh City is the lowest in Vietnam
at 1.33 children per couple.
“This is an alarming number because, according to many
other countries’ experience, when TFR goes under 1.4, it is
difficult to raise it again. In Eastern and Southern Central
provinces, TFR is from 1.6-1.8 and shows signs of reducing,”
said Trong.
Vietnam now has 90 million citizens in 2013, but this
figure had been predicted for 2002.
THREATS TO THE FUTURE POPULATION
This has lead to Vietnam’s population aging rapidly. Ac-
cording to Duong Quoc Trong, Vietnam is in the top five coun-
tries worldwide in terms of the speed of average age increase.
Other countries may take tens of years or even a century
to move from the population aging phase to the aged popula-
tion period; however, in Vietnam this may take just 16 years.
At the moment, the aged population accounts for just over
10 per cent of the total. The ratio 11:1 is predicted to change
to 6:1 by 2029 and 4:1 by 2049. Furthermore, around 18 per
The rapid aging of Vietnam’s population has sparked an about-face in govern-
ment policy, with the population authorities now declaring those who have two
children to be patriots, writes
Hong Nhung
Patriots produce
SLICE OF LIFE
This is the ideal family image the authorities now want to
promote