What is the General Department of Population’s opinion on the proposals to have a second child and support home purchases in Ho Chi Minh City?

Experts say that with the current severely low birth rate, if Ho Chi Minh City does not take intervention measures, the birth rate will drop further in the future.

Recently, at a seminar on “Low Fertility in Ho Chi Minh City: Current Situation, Causes and Solutions” organized by the Population and Family Planning Department of the Ho Chi Minh City Health Department, Ms. Pham Thi My Lok said: Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Population and Family Planning Department said that the city’s total fertility rate in 2018 was 1.33 women of childbearing age, which is very low compared to the national replacement fertility rate of 2.1.

Currently, Ho Chi Minh City is among the 17 provinces and cities with low birth rates. This will have a significant impact on the city’s future population structure. Experts said that if Ho Chi Minh City does not take measures to intervene, the birth rate will further decline in the future.

When the population enters the aging stage, the number of young people and alternative sources of labor will be insufficient to meet the demand, which will have a negative impact on the socio-economic development of the city and the development of the country as a whole.

Ho Chi Minh City is among 17 provinces and cities with low birth rates. Illustration

To address the above situation, the Ho Chi Minh City Population and Family Planning Department recommends that the Ministry of Health make recommendations directly to the People’s Committee and submit them to the City People’s Council for the promulgation of the “Resolution on Population and Development Policy in Ho Chi Minh City” During the period 2021-2025, there will be policies to prioritize solving the problem of low fertility and improving the quality of the population.

Specifically, it is planned to support the exemption or reduction of all hospitalization expenses during the birth of a second child for couples with permanent residence in the city; to give priority to borrowing, buying or renting affordable housing for couples who have given birth to two children and have permanent residence in the city; to exempt or reduce the education expenses of children under 10 years old…

In addition, the leaders of the Ho Chi Minh City Population and Family Planning Department also suggested that the Ministry of Health and the General Department of Population recommend that relevant departments conduct research and suggest that the draft population law include the content of “each couple has the right to decide the number of children”, or consider revising the permission for giving birth to a third child in low-fertility areas without considering disciplinary action, and lower the annual competitive assessment level of officials and civil servants. , Civil servants giving birth to a third or more children…

Mr. Nguyen Doan Tu – Director General of the Population Department (Ministry of Health)

In this regard, Nguyen Tuan Thu, Director of the General Department of Population of the Ministry of Health, said in an interview with the reporter of the Family and Society Newspaper: The low birth rate in Ho Chi Minh City has lasted for a long time. For 20 years, it has been lower than the fertility rate (2.1 children/woman) and is currently at a very worrying level (1.33 children/woman). Therefore, it is necessary to formulate policies to promote fertility.

Ruan Duantu said that in fact, some countries in the world with low fertility rates have also introduced policies to promote fertility to limit the continued low fertility rate. For example, Japan invests about 18 billion US dollars each year to promote fertility. South Korea has also spent billions of dollars to increase the birth rate, and Singapore has also provided housing support programs for people who have more children.

Therefore, when evaluating the preferential proposals for Ho Chi Minh City for families with two children (reductions, free hospitalization fees, support for priority loan programs, purchase and rental of social housing…), Director of the General Department Nguyen Doan Tu said that these are very good. This city with a seriously low birth rate has good policies.

As for the proposal of some regions to have a third child, according to the Director of the General Department of Population, there is no relevant document to regulate this issue. Even in Resolution No. 21-NQ/TW of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam or in the “Vietnam Population Strategy to 2030” recently approved by the government, there is no mention of having a third child.

Ruan Duanzi said that in the context of uneven fertility levels across the country, the General Population Bureau is currently urgently completing a project to adjust regional fertility levels. The project will focus on promoting fertility in low-fertility areas; continue to advocate for lower fertility rates in high-fertility areas, and maintain fertility levels in areas that have reached replacement fertility levels. Based on this, the project will specifically mention the subject and process of adjustment.

However, the headquarters leaders are also worried that the current population size of our country is still very large. Therefore, “wise” adjustments and guidance are needed to avoid misunderstandings among people, triggering adverse reactions and causing the fertility rate to rise again, especially in areas with higher fertility rates.

To maintain replacement fertility in line with Resolution 21-NQ/TW and Vietnam’s population strategy to 2030, Director-General Nguyen Doan Tu stressed that it is most important that people understand the meaning of the message: “Every couple should have two children.” For the poor “core” areas with higher fertility rates, the campaign to reduce fertility should continue to ensure a stable life and focus on raising children.

The Prime Minister has just issued Decision No. 1679/QD-TTg, approving Vietnam’s population strategy until 2030, which includes 8 main goals. In particular, in Goal 1, the Decision clearly states: Firmly maintain the replacement fertility level and narrow the regional and subject fertility rate differences. Firmly maintain the replacement fertility rate (2.1 children per woman of childbearing age), with a population size of 104 million; Narrow the fertility rate gap between urban and rural areas, mountainous areas and plains by 50%; 50% of provinces reach the replacement fertility level.

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According to Mei Cui (Source Name)