The question “Are you pregnant yet?” is becoming more common in China. The government is pressuring women to have children. With a shrinking population, China faces economic challenges. Of
Historically, China’s government influenced family planning, enforcing the one-child policy. This policy involved harsh fines and forced abortions. Today, the focus has shifted, encouraging families to have more children. As China faces an aging population, the government sees this as an economic necessity.
Officials have begun knocking on doors, asking women about their family planning intentions. Many report being questioned about personal details. These questions reflect the shift from limiting families to promoting larger ones.
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The government is collaborating with universities to promote marriage and childbirth. Leaders also stress this message at political gatherings, urging women to have children. This push makes it harder for women to ignore state pressure.
In many cases, officials visit homes to track women’s progress after childbirth. Some are even asked to pose for photographs with their babies for official records. These actions make many women uncomfortable, crossing into personal boundaries.
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Many women feel these efforts are disconnected from reality. The cost of raising children is high in urban China, making large families unrealistic for most. Career demands and personal goals further complicate the decision to have children.
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China is not only trying to increase birth rates. The government also wants to change the culture around family. They promote a “new marriage and childbearing culture.” Once tasked with limiting births, family planning associations are now encouraging families to grow.
Health and Government Surveillance
For many women, government involvement begins even before marriage. Officials often monitor couples’ plans after free health screenings. During these appointments, women receive advice on when to have children. Many women later receive calls encouraging them to pick up free prenatal supplements.
This monitoring doesn’t end with marriage. Government websites advise pregnant women to register at community health centers, which are run by local officials and keep track of pregnancies. Some women appreciate the support, but others find it intrusive. The constant check-ins feel like surveillance rather than care.
I mean HAR HAR and all but they are knocking on doors to find women that are not knocked up to pressure them in getting knocked up, then being extra weird by following up later in order to take pictures of those children.
Its like China can only steer by going full tilt one way or the other.
Ostensibly this is nothing to do with fascism. It has everything to do with a generational collapse.
In the developed nations(e.g. N.America, Europe, Taiwan, Japan, S.Korea) we are hitting it because the boomers took everything and sacrificed the well-being of GenX-onward to save their own positions without fighting for anything.
In China, the one child policy help avoid a massive youth population that wouldn't have anywhere to fit in(and thus avoid formenting rebellion) but now as its too expensive for Chinese families to have replacement levels of offspring, they're facing a much worse version than we are, they have a huge aging population who are starting to retire and nowhere near enough to replace them.
And that then leads us to the weird concept of emulated fascism, or far left fascism. How much does it matter to someone living under a authoritarian regime what we call it anyway?
Its really weird that those mothers get to live though both ends of these interesting times.
I doubt people have much faith left in the party but if they did this I would think snuff that out. Just think of the parents that where forced to abort a child now being told children quota was down.
Are they being compensated adequately for their troubles? I'm not sure how they can promote (or whatever this is) having children without providing at least the financial means to do so.
I don't think there is any meaningful payment, but then again after reading this I would not put it past them to make some sort of pay for kids program in the future. It feels a bit dirty and I would guess quickly become abused. Great, now I have the nasty image of people farming for cash becoming a thing. Wonderful.