#19 Why do fewer Chinese people want babies? 为什么越来越少中国人想要小孩了？

大家好，欢迎回来MaoMi Chinese！今天是MaoMi Chinese的第十九期——为什么越来越少中国人想要小孩了？

看中国新闻的朋友可能知道，今年的五月十二日，中国发表了第七次全国人口普查的报告。这一次的人口普查发现，2020年中国大陆的出生人口只有一千二百万，比2019年少了二百六十五万。为什么现在的很多中国人越来越不想生孩子了呢？我觉得有这三个原因：

第一个原因，现在中国年轻人的压力太大了。我在以前的podcast里聊过996工作制。说实话，这真的是一个非常邪恶的工作制。就像我的朋友说的，996让人生不如死。我们一天有二十四个小时，应该八个小时工作，八个小时休息，八个小时留给自己。我们一个星期有七天，应该五天工作，两天是周末，也应该留给自己和我们的家人朋友。但是996工作制却强迫人们一天工作12个小时以上，一周工作六天以上，那么人们怎么会开心呢？我们的精神怎么会健康呢？我们怎么会有精力去谈恋爱，结婚，生孩子，照顾孩子呢？所以啊，我觉得·，如果想鼓励中国的年轻人生孩子，一定要改变996工作制。

第二个原因，中国的房价太高了，在中国买房子太贵了。虽然现在很多中国的年轻人工作很辛苦，也经常加班，但是他们的工资没有多特别多。大概二十年前，年轻人在城市工作十多年就可以买一套房子，但是现在，可能要工作一百年，才能买一套房子。这对于很多中国年轻人来说，压力太大了。在中国的传统里，房子是很重要的东西。如果我们连房子都买不起，我们没有自己的家，我们又怎么会想结婚和生孩子呢？

第三个原因，也是我认为很重要的一个原因——在中国，男女依然很不平等。很多女性生了孩子以后，她们很难再找到一份很好的工作，所以一些城市里的女性都选择单身，选择不生孩子。另外，很多男性依然觉得，女性应该做家务，女性应该生孩子。他们在他们的的妻子生孩子前后，都不太关心她们。我也是一个女性，如果我要和这样的男人结婚，生孩子，那我也宁愿单身，宁愿一辈子也不生孩子。多累啊！我们当然都希望自己的一辈子能快乐一点儿，轻松一点儿。

以后中国的人口会变少吗？很可能会。这也是很难改变的现实。但我依然希望，每一个中国的年轻人，可以不再996，可以买得起房子，每一个中国的女性都会被尊重。

Hi everyone. Welcome back to MaoMi Chinese! Today is episode 19^th - Why there are fewer and fewer Chinese people who want to have a baby?

Listeners who read Chinese news might know that on 12^th May this year, China released the report of its 7^th national census. The census found that there are only 12 million newborn babies and it’s 2.65 million less than 2019. Why are there fewer and fewer Chinese people who want to have a baby? I think it’s because of these 3 reasons.

The first reason is that young Chinese people are under so much pressure. I have spoken about 996 work schedule (working from 9am to 9pm 6 days a week). To be honest, this is really an evil work schedule. Just as my friend said, the 996 work schedule makes people feel that life is no better than death. We have 24 hours a day. We should work for 8 hours, rest for 8 hours and leave 8 hours for ourselves. However, the 996 work schedule forced people to work over 12 hours a day and over 6 days a week. So how can people be happy? How can we have good mental health? How can we have the energy to date, get married to have babies and look after them? Therefore, I think that if they would like to encourage young people to have babies, they have to change the 996 work schedule.

The second reason is that the price of housing is too high and it’s too expensive to buy a house/property in China. Although now many young Chinese people are working very hard and often working overtime, their salary is not much more. About 20 years ago, young people could buy a house by working for about 10 years, but now, it probably takes 100 years. For too many young Chinese people, this is too stressful. In Chinese traditions, a house is a very important thing. If we can’t even afford to buy a house and don’t have our home, how would we be able to happily get married and have babies?

The third reason, which I think is very important, is that in China, men and women are still not equal. Lots of women struggle to get a decent job after they give birth. In addition, many men still think that women should do the housework and should take care of babies. Before and after their wives’ delivery, they don’t show that they care. I am also a woman and if I had to marry a man like that and give birth to a baby, I would rather be single and not have babies for my whole life. How exhausting is that! For sure we all hope that our lives can be happier and easier.

In the future will the Chinese population keep getting smaller? Maybe it will. This is a reality that is hard to change. But I still hope that every Chinese youngster doesn’t have to follow the 996 work schedule anymore, and they can afford to buy a house. Also, every Chinese woman will be respected.