Vietnam scraps two-children policy. Here's the reason

Vietnam has scrapped its long-standing two children policy for citizens on Wednesday (June 4). This abrogation of the police came after the country struggled with a declining birth rate.

The policy dated back to 1988 when Vietnam banned couple to have more than two children. But now, it's the decision of the families to decide the number of kids they would have, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Vietnam has experienced historically low birth rates during the last three year. The total fertility rate of the nation dropped to 1.91 children per woman last year.

Birth rates have fallen from 2.11 children per woman in 2021, to 2.01 in 2022 and 1.96 in 2023.

This trend of having limited numbers of kids is mostly popular in urban and economically developed areas of the country. The reason? Rising cost of living.

What do Vietnam women think?

Tran Minh Huong, a 22-year-old office worker, told AFP that the government regulation mattered little to her as she had no plans to have children.

"Even though I am an Asian, with social norms that say women need to get married and have kids, it's too costly to raise a child," she said.

Male child over female?

Vietnam's Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thi Lien Huon, earlier this year, said at a press conference that it was increasingly difficult to encourage families to have more children. She said this was a tough job despite policy adjustments and public campaigns.

She urged society to shift its mindset from focusing solely on family planning to a broader perspective of population and development.

Vietnam is also grappling with sex imbalances due to a historic preference for a male child.

The gender ratio at birth, though improved, remains skewed at 112 boys for every 100 girls.

Hoang Thi Oanh, a 45-year-old mother of three children told AFP, "It's good that at last the authorities removed this ban."

But she added that "raising more than two kids nowadays is too hard and costly".