National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Thi Viet Nga: Do not 'let go' of population policy, need to redefine the system of social values ​​revolving around young families

We have entered a new era, with new challenges, requiring a completely different approach compared to the previous “population explosion” period. Adjusting policies to increase the birth rate does not mean increasing the population massively and uncontrollably.

National Assembly Delegate Nguyen Thi Viet Nga. (Source: Quochoi)

That is the view of the National Assembly Delegate. Nguyen Thi Viet Nga, Deputy Head of the National Assembly Delegation of Hai Duong Province, Member of the National Assembly's Culture and Social Affairs Committee, shared with TheWorld and Vietnam Newspaper, about the story of the National Assembly Standing Committee voting to approve the draft Ordinance amending Article 10 of the Population Ordinance. Accordingly, each couple and individual can decide on the time of giving birth and the number of children.

Avoid "getting old before getting rich"

The National Assembly Standing Committee's approval of the regulation abolishing the limit of 1-2 children per couple is considered a fundamental change in population policy. In your opinion, what is the main driving force behind this change and what are the risks if we do not adjust in time?

As expected, the National Assembly Standing Committee’s approval of the regulation to abolish the 1-2 child limit is a fundamental turning point in Vietnam’s population policy thinking. This change is not only a legal technicality but also a clear political and social message: We have entered a new era, with new challenges, requiring a completely different approach compared to the previous “population explosion” period.

The biggest driver for this adjustment comes from the fact that demographics have been changing rapidly. If a few decades ago, the concern was that the population was growing too quickly, now we are facing the risk of an aging population and a declining birth rate.

According to the latest data, Vietnam's total fertility rate is currently hovering around 2.1 children per woman - the threshold for replacement population balance. However, in many localities, especially urban and economically developed areas such as Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, the actual fertility rate has dropped sharply, to only about 1.3-1.5 children. This is an alarming level if we look at the experience of developed countries such as Japan, Korea, and Singapore.

We all see clearly that once the birth rate drops too low and remains for a long time, the population will begin to age rapidly, the labor force will shrink, social productivity will be under pressure, the social security system, especially social insurance and health care, will face difficulties, and the economy will gradually lose its endogenous momentum. This is an expensive lesson that many countries are struggling to reverse, but the success is still unclear. Vietnam cannot repeat that mistake.

Therefore, abolishing the limit on the number of children is the first step, opening up a legal space to approach population policy in a more positive and proactive direction, based on the choice of each family, not imposed by rigid slogans. Of course, it must be affirmed that this does not mean that we "let go" of population policy, but rather shift to flexible "population management" by region, area, and stage, encouraging low birth rates, and still needing control in high birth rates.

Without timely adjustments, Vietnam will soon fall into a state of “getting old before getting rich”, meaning that it will face a population structure crisis before reaching the upper middle income level. At that time, the economy will be slowed down, the burden of social security will increase, and especially the creativity and innovation that mainly comes from the young will seriously decline.

Therefore, I highly appreciate the fact that the National Assembly and the Government have promptly recognized this issue and made appropriate legal adjustments. This is the premise for subsequent policies on birth promotion, support for young families, development of high-quality human resources, etc. to be designed and implemented synchronously in the coming time.

Children need to inherit the best living environment to develop. Illustrative photo. (Photo: Truong Soa)

Create a "safe, livable, and child-bearing" environment

From the experience of countries like Japan and South Korea, we can clearly see that birth promotion cannot be successful if it only stops at appeals. In your opinion, what policies should Vietnam prioritize to create a “safe, livable, and child-bearing” environment for young families?

This question hits the core of the problem. Indeed, many countries such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore, etc. have implemented birth promotion policies for decades, with huge budgets and multi-layered policy systems, but the results are generally limited. One underlying reason is that the policies do not address the “psychological bottlenecks” and “economic fears” of young families. If Vietnam only stops at the slogan “have more children” without accompanying solutions, it will be very difficult to create real change.

"Having children is not something 'to do for the country', but a personal choice, linked to family happiness. State policies need to create real conditions to make that decision easy, reassuring and full of hope."

I believe that if we want to create a truly “safe, livable, and child-bearing” environment, we need to redefine a system of social values ​​revolving around young families, and on that basis, implement the following priority policy groups:

First, reduce the economic pressure of giving birth and raising children. This is the most common concern. There should be specific financial support policies such as child birth allowance (not just a one-time payment but can be for the first year of a child's life), tax reduction for families with two or more children, and expansion of social housing policies for young families. These supports, although small, help couples feel more secure when planning to have children.

Second, develop a high-quality public childcare system. Children as young as 6 months old need a suitable nurturing environment. In big cities, the lack of public preschools, especially in industrial parks and export processing zones, forces many women to quit their jobs after giving birth or send their children back to their hometowns for grandparents to care for. This negatively affects the intention to have more children. The State needs to invest heavily in the preschool network, especially for children under 3 years old.

Third, protect the rights of female workers during childbirth and child-rearing. Currently, many women are afraid to have children because they are afraid of losing promotion opportunities and being judged as having poor performance. Policies need to provide clearer regulations on job protection, rights to flexible hours, part-time work, and remote work during child-rearing, especially in the private sector.

Fourth, encourage the “child-friendly family” model. This is not just a slogan, but a new way of thinking in urban planning, housing design, public spaces, healthcare and education systems. A livable city is a place where young families do not have to struggle to find a place for their children to play, do not have to queue up at night to apply for a preschool place, and do not worry about congestion at children’s hospitals.

Fifth, build the image of mothers and fathers in the new era. The media needs to promote a positive image of parenthood as not only a sacrifice and hardship, but also a meaningful journey of maturity. At the same time, eliminate the prejudices that "women who give birth many times will suffer", "maternity leave means losing opportunities" or "children are a burden". Positive social psychology is the long-term foundation of birth promotion.

In short, having children is not something “to do for the country”, but a personal choice, linked to family happiness. State policies need to create real conditions to make that decision easy, secure and full of hope. If we can do that, we do not need to encourage too much with words, actions and living environments will naturally arouse the desire to become parents in today’s young generation.

Vietnam needs to develop a high-quality public childcare system. (Source: Nhan Dan)

New population policy goes hand in hand with sustainable development

According to her, can the new population policy go hand in hand with the orientation of sustainable development, when many people are concerned that the increase in birth rate could create more pressure on the social security system, environment and budget?

This is a very thoughtful question and also reflects a common concern in public opinion today. For decades, we have been accustomed to approaching population as a factor that must be controlled to reduce pressure on resources, infrastructure, education, and health care. Therefore, when we turn to “assisted reproduction”, many people feel worried that we are going against the goal of sustainable development.

However, sustainable development does not mean maintaining a low birth rate at all times. On the contrary, it is the imbalance of population, rapid aging population, and shortage of young labor force that are the factors causing the economy and society to fall into an unsustainable state. We need to look at population not as a matter of quantity, but as a story of quality, structure, and reasonable distribution over space and time.

"It is important that policies address the 'psychological bottlenecks' and 'economic fears' of young families. If Vietnam only stops at the slogan 'have more children' without accompanying solutions, it will be very difficult to create real change."

Adjusting population policies to increase the birth rate does not mean increasing the population in a massive, uncontrolled way. In fact, even if birth promotion measures are applied strongly, the average total fertility rate in Vietnam can only fluctuate around 2.1-2.2 for a long time, enough to ensure the balance of the replacement generation. In other words, we are not returning to the period of population explosion, but only trying to maintain a stable, controlled state.

From a sustainable development perspective, a reasonable population helps ensure a labor force for the economy, maintaining the proportion of people of working age - a necessary condition for maintaining productivity and innovation. At the same time, a young population also creates demand for consumption, services, education, and housing - factors that contribute positively to domestic economic growth. A rapidly declining population will cause the market to shrink, purchasing power to decrease, and a spending structure that is biased towards elderly care, all of which are risks to long-term development.

Regarding budget pressures, it is clear that population growth can cause public services such as health care, education, and transportation to expand. However, if prepared early and adjusted according to the roadmap, these costs can be completely controlled and the increase in the working population will help increase budget revenues. The issue is reasonable planning and allocation, not keeping the population low at all costs.

In addition, it is important to emphasize that sustainable development is an overall goal, not just a population problem, but also includes energy transition, emission reduction, biodiversity protection, social equity, etc. In that picture, population policy needs to go hand in hand with, and not be in opposition to, other pillars of sustainable development.

Therefore, I believe that the new population policy can go hand in hand with sustainable development if we approach it flexibly, scientifically and synchronously. If we do not adjust in time, we will pay a high price in the future, but if we adjust without a plan, we also face the risk of imbalance. The problem lies in the vision and capacity to implement the policy, which Vietnam can do well if there is consensus and determination from the entire political system to the people.

On the afternoon of June 3, at the 46th Session, the National Assembly Standing Committee passed the Ordinance amending Article 10 of the Population Ordinance No. 06/2003/PL-UBTVQH11, which was amended and supplemented by Ordinance No. 08/2008/PL-UBTVQH12.

Presenting the report, Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that the Government submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee to amend Clause 1, Article 1 of the Population Ordinance No. 08/2008/PLUBTVQH12, amending Article 10 of the 2003 Population Ordinance: "Decision on time and spacing of births" to "Decision on time of birth, number of children and spacing between births appropriate to the age, health status, conditions of study, labor, work, income and child-rearing of individuals and couples on the basis of equality".

At the same time, remove clause 2: “Have one or two children, except in special cases prescribed by the Government”; keep clause 3. This amendment aims to overcome the difference in birth rates between regions and subjects, avoiding the birth rate falling too low, not reaching the replacement level - which can have negative impacts on sustainable economic, social, security and defense development in the future.

"Amending legal documents regulating the number of children is one of the contents aimed at maintaining the replacement birth rate, avoiding the birth rate from continuing to decrease in the coming time," said Minister Dao Hong Lan.

Minister of Health Dao Hong Lan said that the national fertility rate is trending down below the replacement level, from 2.11 children/woman (2021) to 2.01 children/woman (2022), 1.96 children/woman (2023) and 1.91 children/woman (2024), the lowest in history and is forecast to continue to decrease in the following years.

According to forecasts, if the birth rate continues to decline, by 2039, Vietnam will end its golden population period, in 2042 the working-age population will peak, and after 2054 the population will begin to grow negatively. At that time, the consequences of a prolonged low birth rate will lead to a shortage of labor force, a decline in population size, accelerated population aging, and negative impacts on socio-economic development.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/dbqh-nguyen-thi-viet-nga-khong-tha-noi-chinh-sach-dan-so-can-xac-dinh-lai-he-gia-tri-xa-hoi-xoay-quanh-gia-dinh-tre-317327.html