Marriage Rates Plunge by 940,000 in First Three Quarters, CCP’s Birth Push Extends to Older Women

In Sichuan Province's Daliang Mountain, many children are barely clothed, suffer from hunger, and fend for themselves; they are the children of the common people, not the focus of the CCP’s care. (Video screenshot)

[People News] The "COVID death toll" is cited as a reason for the drastic decline in China's population. However, the CCP refuses to acknowledge that the actual population has fallen to pre-family planning levels, reluctantly claiming that the population has only decreased by nearly three million over the past two years. Yet, data inadvertently disclosed by related departments, showing a significant decline in marriage numbers over the past two years, further discredits the CCP’s "three million" narrative.

On November 1, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs published the latest figures showing that 4.747 million couples registered for marriage nationwide in the first nine months of this year, down by 943,000 from the same period last year. The number of marriages has been consistently declining over the past decade, and this has correspondingly impacted the national birth rate, which continues to fall. These figures reflect not only population decline but also the harsh living conditions and the reluctance of young people to marry and have children.

One reason for the declining marriage rate is the long-term consequences of the one-child policy, which has resulted in fewer young people and, more significantly, a skewed gender ratio due to the preference for male offspring. According to the 2020 national census, China has approximately 35 million more unmarried men than women.

Faced with public disinterest in marriage and childbirth, the CCP has realized that without a new generation of workers, there will be no one left to exploit, unsold properties will increase, and economic consumption will stagnate. In response, the government has launched numerous initiatives to encourage marriage and childbirth. These include community outreach, home visits, educational campaigns in schools (even primary schools), as well as financial incentives such as childbirth subsidies, maternity insurance, childcare policies, pregnancy registration bonuses, and prioritized housing support. Some local governments have even resorted to calling citizens to "urge births," asking detailed questions about menstrual cycles and future pregnancy plans, and threatening consequences such as withholding bonuses, reducing benefits, or even firing public employees for not having multiple children.

At the 13th National Women’s Congress, CCP leader Xi Jinping called for women to embody "traditional virtues" and emphasized that officials have a responsibility to "guide young people's views on love, marriage, and family" and to "actively foster a new culture of marriage and childbirth."

However, after years of being influenced by education promoting personal interests above all else, Chinese citizens have developed distorted views on marriage, leading to exorbitant bride prices and homeownership becoming a "ticket to marriage," further deterring young people from entering matrimony. Additionally, amid economic downturns, young people facing salary cuts, layoffs, or even unemployment lack any motivation to marry, as they would also have to bear the financial burden of supporting parents and children, which adds considerable stress.

The CCP is aware of this and has tried to address economic issues through ill-conceived policies, such as shutting down the private education industry. This resulted in increased unemployment, declining school education standards, reduced tax revenue, and worsened economic conditions, exacerbating social issues. Such shortsighted, patchwork solutions have failed repeatedly.

Now, these heavy-handed birth and marriage incentives target even the youngest demographic.

On Monday (28th), Xinhua News Agency reported that the State Council General Office had recently issued "Measures to Accelerate the Improvement of the Birth Support Policy System and Promote the Construction of a Childbirth-Friendly Society," integrating content on marriage and childbirth education into primary, secondary, and higher education courses. Netizens mocked the policy, saying it implies "starting reproduction education from young children."

Zhejiang Textile & Fashion College hosted "health education lectures" teaching female students how to attract male counterparts and stimulate male interest, which sparked public outrage, with some accusing the policy of turning universities into places encouraging immoral behavior under the guise of promoting births. In Chengdu, Sichuan, Yangping Community even distributed prenatal supplements, such as folic acid, to girls as young as 15.

The CCP's push for childbirth does not spare even primary school children or older women. In some areas, women aged 49 are being urged to conceive, an idea so ludicrous it has become laughable. The Health Bureau of Luohu District, Shenzhen, issued a notice encouraging women up to 49 years old to attempt pregnancy. Following district directives, Lian Tang Subdistrict invited a team from Luohu People's Hospital’s Reproductive Medicine Department to hold a lecture on "Scientific Pregnancy Promotion." The recruitment targeted women aged 49 or younger, with some participants in their 50s. A community worker explained, "The district initiated this event, and specific details can be confirmed with them." The local Family Planning Association admitted organizing the event.

Despite the array of efforts to force marriage and childbirth, these measures have seen little success. An increasing number of "Four No Youth" (no dating, no marriage, no home buying, and no children) have emerged in mainland China. They see no future or hope, and due to the CCP's education promoting material desires, they view the current era as akin to a new Cultural Revolution that destroys family structures. Many children who grew up in single-parent homes are unwilling to face the same painful reality as their parents.

Analysts argue that without a fundamental shift in China’s distorted cultural and family values, treating young people as mere birth machines and repeatedly infringing on reproductive rights will only exacerbate the population crisis, creating a vicious cycle.

Former Renmin University sociology professor Zhou Xiaozheng, now based in the U.S., and Teng Biao, a legal scholar and visiting professor at the City University of New York, have criticized the CCP as an evil regime. They point out that it controls every aspect of life, including childbirth, previously promoting family planning as beneficial and claiming the state would care for the elderly. Now, it reverts to pre-Cultural Revolution rhetoric, urging people to rely on multiple children for old-age support, reflecting a series of unethical, unscientific, and human rights-violating policies. Reproduction is a basic human right that should not be controlled. The more the CCP intervenes, the worse it becomes, ultimately leading to a childless and futureless China—a possible method for the CCP to destroy the nation from within.