Why China’s Demographic Crisis Just Keeps Getting Worse

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China's acute demographic crisis keeps getting worse, with its largest population decline in over 60 years. So in this video, we explain the data behind the crisis, why it's not improving and whether Xi Jinping and the CCP can do anything about it.
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1 - www.ft.com/content/d9cf3643-5...
2 - www.economist.com/graphic-det...
3 - www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-3...
4 - www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia...
5 - x.com/MoreBirths/status/17475...
6 - data.worldbank.org/indicator/...
7 - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
8 - www.economist.com/china/2017/...
9 - nationalinterest.org/blog/the...
10 - data.worldbank.org/indicator/...
00:00 Introduction
02:13 Recent Statistics
04:43 Why China has the Worst Demographic Crisis
06:15 Can the CCP Solve It?
07:26 Nord VPN

[@chrissheppard3023]

One big reason for young Chinese couples not to have children. Is when go to the big cities from the rural areas they are not allowed to use the local child care facilities provided by local authorities and the same with health care. And accommodations for a family are massively increased so they often leave them with family and only see them in the Chinese new year for example so they just don't bother bother having them. There lots of similar things like this which I don't have time or authority to cover but that's the drift

[@joshuaconniff7712]

Wow that's shocking

[@JohnSmith-vn8dm]

Yes, that's called the Hukou system. It basically divides Chinese people into a class/caste hierarchy based on their place of birth. People with a worse hukou are discriminated against and treated as lesser people. Being able to acquire a Shanghai hukou is considered a way to secure your child's future. The reason the CCP has maintained this policy is because they have been more worried about revolts from an educated urban elite, some of which who will travel abroad to other countries and influence policies towards China or will simply be exposed to protestors in other countries. Keeping these influential people happy is considered a lot more important than economically disadvantaged rural and migrant workers who will probably not be able to bring down the CCP.

[@TimothyCHenderson]

@@JohnSmith-vn8dm That makes sense. Revolution always comes from the middle. They have just enough education and ambition to want more.

[@hhvvhjgfcgg]

​@@JohnSmith-vn8dm卧槽 逆天 😅上海爷是吧 我估计你压根不知道上海爷这种说法在我国就是被嘲讽的 而且谁寄吧玩地域黑

[@hhvvhjgfcgg]

​@@JohnSmith-vn8dm还有 从来只有农民和工人这种无产阶级推翻国家 哪来小资本主义推翻国家 他们也配？

[@faberion2258]

That's also important to mention, that China can't compensate their low fertility rate with immigration, unlike US and EU

[@lapz78]

This is true but China even in 100 years will still most likely have over twice the population of the US

[@user-ml1vz4vq7j]

They could, they just don’t want to

[@Laidbackjames1]

@@user-ml1vz4vq7j Not really, there are no huge numbers of people eager to work for slave labor wages in china.

[@vijaz5559]

from western and high currency nation, sure. there are more than enough who wanted to go from poorer country@@Laidbackjames1

[@iambicpentakill]

@@Laidbackjames1 I thought that a lot of southeast asian people were interested, but maybe I misheard

[@Jedsa009]

Short-term incentives will have no effect for a simple reason. People make calculations and realize that the money and effort required for having and raising kids will vastly outstrip those incentives in the long run.

[@MoDa87]

There needs to be an effort to increase young people wages all over the world, reduce housing costs by not making it an investment. And making sure that parents actually have time raise their children. So they turn into well adjusted humans.

[@nathaniel1207]

As a young guy in the 18-24 age group (US West coast), the biggest barrier to my life and my desire to start a family is high cost of living. if i want to have a large enough home for a family i'd roughly need to double my income, most of that to cover housing costs, alongside the basic necessities for a child (clothing, diapers, formula, etc.) especially if i dont want to have my spouse work, i'd need a lot more income. I cant imagine what its like in china for young people where the youth unemployment is >20%. It'd be hell to try to get an affordable home in a city where wages are highest since the land value has gone sky high.

[@blazer9547]

​@@nathaniel1207 immigrants drive up every prices.

[@alihorda]

​@@blazer9547why would immigrants drive up prices when they lower the wages?

[@airtale8725]

@@blazer9547 Immigrants are barely relevant. The main issues are the speculative housing markets, the empty houses viewed as "investments" and also there are just simply not enough housing built in the US to compensate for population growth (and native households too have an average higher than 2 children). The solutions: make state laws that prioritise building housing, allow the house types of the missing middle to be built (town houses, row houses, midrises, twin houses were unreasonably banned due to estate market and HOA lobbying in most of America), and landlords should be taxed for empty houses to incentivise them to keep their places occupied rather than hiking prices by keeping homes empty and creating artificial scarcity.

[@ChangesOfTomorrow]

I think it’s time to accept that most of the world will have population decline and start working on adapting the economies to that.

[@jonmel]

But that might mean the 1% makes less money , very selfish of you they have their yachts to upgrade and a few more wife and divorces to be pay for

[@ChangesOfTomorrow]

@@jonmelbut you're right, of course, we should think of the shareholders first!

[@HughJass-jv2lt]

"Most of the World".... I assume you're Ignoring Latin/South America & Africa 😂😂

[@20quid]

Population decline is not a bad thing, systems that demand never-ending growth are the problem.

[@ChangesOfTomorrow]

​@@HughJass-jv2lt "Most of the world" means most, not all. Kind of obvious, I think? Latin America is already below 2,1 children from the data I've seen, not sure why you're bringing them up? Africa is also going for a population peak and decline before the end of the century, so it will be everywhere eventually.

[@soodiudiu3834]

Man, I still remember that's 1 video circle around twitter that shows a public security threatening a young man. Saying if the young man did not cooperate, he will make him and his next 3 generation's life harder. They young man simply reply "Sorry, I'm the last generation."

[@ArabicReja973]

Chinese property sector, which accounts for 30% of GDP, is crashing. - Exports and imports, accounting for 37% GDP, are down. - Foreign investment is falling over 90% compared to 2018. - Foreign visitors are down 94% compared to 2019. - Consumer prices are experiencing deflation. - Youth unemployment hits over 21%, a record. - Its fast-shrinking workforce is 10 years older than neighboring countries. *Still, China keeps reporting outrageous GDP numbers.* Lol Where does the growth come from?

[@mees9704]

it comes from lying.

[@debater452]

Well you see the CCP has the magical ability to basicly make up stats and claim that they are growing

[@gsugesuio]

That's simple, debt. Is it sustainable? No.

[@jagplaysroblox2169]

Yeah they’re pretty screwed

[@nurulhudavijapurwala4936]

Bro same happening with Europe too , because Europe kick out from Africa

[@giantWario]

The gender imbalance is also a massive problem that you didn't touch on. Due to the one-child policy being active for so long, there is now a massive gender imbalance in China with 34 million more men than women and that imbalance exists almost entirely in the young adult group. In fact, when you get above 60 years old, there are more women than men. That's why saying that there are less than 10 births per 1000 people is so misleading because so few of those 1000 people are young women who can have children in the first place. If you only look at how many young Chinese women are having babies instead of their entire population, then they are actually more or less on par with Europe. The issue is that there are so few young chinese women in the first place.

[@Mousey10101]

I am almost offended that they have not touched upon the female baby genocide. This is insane that they didn't, Chinese history always preferred males, and now with businesses, you want a son to continue it, not a daughter. If a girl was born, either she was killed or abandoned, or if they got lucky adopted out.

[@jareersmoker1721]

@@Mousey10101they usually just had abortions before the child was even born if it was a female. 😢 also in China their society is extremely sexist & prefer men. Having a daughter also is seen as a burden because you just I must invest so much and pay for the marriage just for her to have her own family. Men in China usually the first born has the responsibility of taking care of the parents in their old age by having them live with his family or paying for their retirement

[@deaththekid3998]

@@jareersmoker1721 it’s the family of the groom who has to pay for the marriage, not the bride’s. In fact the gender imbalance has caused the price of weddings to skyrocket because the girl’s families know they can demand more, because the boys have less options. You could say having a female baby was a good long term investment 😂

[@catdogmousecheese]

Want to hear something funny? I remember this news story where these reporters interviewed this Chinese businessman and he said the gender imbalance in China is great for his business because he sells sex dolls and lonely Chinese men keep buying them because of how desperate they are for female companionship.

[@kknn523]

You got one part incorrect. The statistics do not count people over 40. The issue is that they miscalculated their one child policy. They should have never had that policy. Now, socially, people in China don't want more than 1 kid.

[@Anmeteor9663]

Proves yet again that in any economy that exploits its workers, there is a point where they are squeezed too hard to maintain the program. Your business model has adverse effects outside of the economy. The law of unintended consequences in human society that never stands still.

[@mcwolfbeast]

Pensions are, in effect, a Ponzi scheme.

[@blazer9547]

​@@mcwolfbeast look up pensions crisis

[@nebenbestimung]

That's exactly what Korea did to its people, but it seems like China also didn't learn from its neighbor.

[@bulletflight]

​@@blazer9547You keep helping my real estate portfolio by keeping homeless people homeless. You do you, servant of the rich! Keep up the good work.

[@dulguunjargal1199]

​@@bulletflightI'm a Trillionare King CEO of Ultracorp LLC and I love Homeless people because they will work for literally Pennie🤣🤣🤣🤑🤑🤑

[@gp-1542]

It’s absolutely crazy how a policy made in the 80s still haunts them to this day

[@Descriptor413]

Heck, America is still haunted by policies from the 30s. It's sadly not that unusual.

[@southcoastinventors6583]

Probably read the Population Bomb to many times and thought well he is famous professor so he has to be right.

[@danielszekeres8003]

They only altered it in 2015, didn't even cancel it, of course it still has an effect

[@RD-jc2eu]

@@southcoastinventors6583 The Chinese didn't give two s#!ts what Paul Ehrlich had to say. They were afraid they wouldn't be able to keep up with the food demands of their own rapidly growing population (which was not idle speculation at that time... the challenges were staring them in the face), and they were looking at a way to put the brakes on. It was a bad plan, but it wasn't totally without a reason.

[@leddarklight7566]

That's what happens when you see the problem beforehand but decided to leave it because it wasn't too late. If it had been Hu Jintao the one who removed the One Child Policy instead of Xi or Xi himself back in 2012,they could have recovered from that Policy side effects. It would've only one generation of Chinese with only a Mother and Father as family.

[@iambicpentakill]

It's crazy how much Xi the Pooh looks like Winnie the Pooh

[@geofflepper3207]

If only Xi could be satisfied with a full pot of honey and didn't feel the need to take on the world.

[@FernandoPerez3h.]

I suspect the situation is influenced by China's one-child policy, which aimed at population control but has inadvertently shaped a cultural preference for having just one child or none. This has created two generations without siblings,Uncles/aunts or nieces/nephews, posing a challenge in altering that mindset among newer generations.

[@JohnGeorgeBauerBuis]

@thierryparte2506this is becoming a more global problem (at least in the West) and is very scary to think about. At least there is hope of some improvement over time in the West, whilst Beijing faces an uncertain future.

[@nntflow7058]

It's part of the problem BUT not the only main reason. High costs for housing alone prevented young people in China from getting married. This is not exclusive to China btw. Other countries regardless if they are rich or not. High housing costs prevented young people from getting married, let alone having kids.

[@DOSFS]

One child policy didn't have much effect on birthrate (if you search Chineses birthrate data, you can see the birthrate decreased long before one child policy implemented) Problem is one child policy did have a effect on male-female ratio---- so you have many more Chinese male than female.

[@ChristianDoretti]

It’s not about the social policies , In modern economies the obssesion with relentless, unmeasured productivity that the average worker has to face is the main reason why having a children is a unrealistic scenario, you can add to that high standards. Social media has risen standards, but in terms of personality, socioeconomical state and looks. It is deeper than that. The growth of debt has made our purchasing power decrease significantly in the west for example, so people don’t think anymore about buying a house like in US for example where it has became an investment rather than a necessity.

[@Mark-gd2ti]

We can send them the "medics and engineers" 😏 they love China and basically everyone who is opposed to the west.... While they will accept a visa for Europe in 0. 001 seconds..... But skip China...... So they might actually find out how much China loves them their religion ecc..... 😂😂 Pretty sure China already built accommodations for them in Xinjiang to help them "integrate" 😊 China is way superior to the west they actually make a lot of efforts to "integrate" those people. ❤❤❤ They are also very smart: they'll vote an Islamic state if they could and flee to a secular one 10 minutes after then they'll say their country is poor because of the secular state even if they had 2% of global gdp before the secular state even put a foot there.....and their religious law basically destroyed companies for centuries so that they were the poorest in their own countries. 😂😂

[@x_xenvy1251]

All those vids that tried to predict that China would have a population of 2 billion by 2050 aged like milk on a hot summer day.

[@Matanumi]

well hold on its not done yet

[@canadasempror5521]

1:35 the 1960 population in the chart 💀

[@pushslice]

< Mao tells Hitler and Stalin to ….”HOLD MY BEER!!”>

[@alexandru5369]

Fact is, China played itself with their one child policy had they stopped it after 1 generation they might've been able too partly recover but it went on way too long and the damage was done. also cost of living is going up everywhere including China

[@1mol831]

If they collapse then they can recover. After all, very poor countries have higher birth rates.

[@lamentate07]

Yes. They kept it going for far too long, and now the cost of living is too high for most people to have big families. Timing is crucial.

[@nikobellic570]

None of the postwar social engineers in China or the West could have predicted the effect of the availability of the contraceptive pill and abortions would have in suppressing the family unit

[@davidgantenbein9362]

While we are now seeing the long term effects, we shouldn’t forget that China went to a one child policy during a time of zero economic growth and a large risk of famines. The CCP was well aware that famines are the no. 1 reason for revolutions to occur, an aging population not so much. We have to remind ourselves that China didn’t implement a one child policy out of the goodness of their heart or because the politicians didn’t like children. It was an extreme answer to huge problems China had at the time. The CCP simply knew that their China wasn’t able to handle further growth in population, so they had to do something. But you are right that China stayed on course way too long. My guess is that once implemented, systems like the CCP just don’t change unless forced to. Nobody cared for a long time and getting rich fast aka corruption was far higher on the totem pole of daily politics.

[@synthia-dev]

Hi, TLDR team. Love Your videos and Your transparency and taking community feedback seriously. Small thing in this video though: can You show labels for both axis on graphs like in 0:23?

[@YajCullpre]

Ironically nord vpn does not work in China

[@greentoby26]

That would be a bit easy, wouldn't it? What's censorship worth if the people you're trying to keep in line are only one publicly available program away from evading it?

[@vitoanania6042]

Can't they now enforce a "4 children policy"?

[@johnl.7754]

Then the CCP government will have instability with a large young jobless population in 20 years

[@Mark-gd2ti]

North Korea cannot do that....

[@howardyates4848]

They are trying a three child policy right now and its not working.

[@salvatoreregalbuto5444]

people are boycotting, the number of new borna got lower the more children they allowed families to have.

[@thegoodpimps]

@@howardyates4848How do you force people to become pregnant and give birth? even if you sanctioned rape and imprisonment you're still up to biological chance rather than government mandate

[@ZackRToler]

I'm not exactly familiar with Chinese history, so I'm curious what caused that nearly 10 million population drop around the late 1950s or early 1960s

[@garulfo2]

it was "LOL MAO ZEDONG LOL"

[@ermin2248]

Communists tried to enforce their brilliant economic ideas

[@philipwong9557]

The Great Leap Forward. This was one of Mao's 5 year plans. It disastrously backfired resulting in famine and widespread malnutrition. The exact numbers are hard to find but some estimates go from 20m to 50m people dying as a direct result of that policy (basically neglecting agriculture, seizing all the food and transferring resources to heavy industry)

[@zayedbinimran957]

famine

[@joshuaradick5679]

If you ask Marxists, it wasn’t really communism.

[@lukewinthorpe3765]

Next year china will introduce a one grandparent policy 😂

[@orthodox-mp6hv]

So you say but china has a history of draconian measures for population control throughout the ages, infanticide was one such common means of population control. Why do you think encouraging the eldery to kill themselves or actually doing it as a goverment mandate would move them in any significant way?

[@hughmungus2760]

ironically its Canada that has the 'euthanasia on demand' policy

[@mees9704]

To truely understand how bad GDP growth in China is after during and after covid I'll give a example from a podcast (the redline) they interviewed a US national (forgot what her job was exactly but something to do with the financial sector in China), who has good connections with some top chinese trading companies and very important companies within China. She was always invited for parties at the end of the year to celebrate earnings and stuff and they would always talk about finance but also speculate how real this figures were. the last time she went (after covid) they didn't want to speculate about the true figures anymore cause of how bad it's gotten. they were genuinely scared to talk about it. We're not talking about a small lose of profit or GDP but a (suspected) 4-5% or something.

[@Western_Decline]

Speculation never compares with real production. China’s economy makes real things: steel, cement, measurable things. It’s not an OnlyFans, de-industrialized wasteland like the U.S. where people can give each their HandJobs and call itself a “service economy”.

[@hughmungus2760]

Do you believe the US is actually growing at 2.7% this year?

[@RD-jc2eu]

@@Western_Decline Yes, China makes "real things"... but not as many last year as the year before, and it will be still less this year and even less than that next year, and so and so on... (Also, many of those "real things" get used to make "not real things," like block after block of apartment towers that no one lives in, and mile after mile of highways that no one drives on, and entire villages that have no villagers, etc., etc., etc....)

[@doctort2853]

@@RD-jc2eu that is exactly what the media want you to believe. Come to China and see for yourself😂 don’t take the extreme 5% and think it represents the whole

[@remmond3769]

​@@RD-jc2eubut unlike America they don't depend on their currency being a reserve currency. They don't depend on other countries having confidence in their currency. As soon as enough countries dump the dollar, America's extreme dependence on its financialization will cause such a catastrophic collapse in American living standards it will trigger a new civil war. We've already seen shades of it in the attack on the Capitol. It's going to g et worse as BRICs is fully intent on making it happen as they have realized long ago that the dollar is being used to extract wealth from the global South to prop up unproductive Americans

[@PasstheDalek]

My in-laws are mainland Chinese. It's too expensive to raise a child in China. Schools are literally money making enterprises dreaming up of all sorts of schemes to force parents to spend money on extras that their child doesnt need to supplement teachers salaries. Parents dare not refuse as they are afraid that teachers will then give their child poor marks. China's lopsided focus on high academic results mean patents fork out sums buy ecpensive property in an area near a prestigious school to qualify for their childrens enrollment. The Govt turns a blind eye to all this. The economic crises in China has also drained incomes and henxe the unwillingness to go forth and multiply. My son was born in China. I pulled him out of China when he was six. Ive never regretted it.

[@Obscurai]

My parents took me out of China as well in 1959 before I was born. I'm so grateful my parents escaped the great leap forward.

[@andreweaston1779]

Shocking that the generation(s) that have gone through multiple 'once in a lifetime' economic crashes, is experiencing stagnant wages, record high cost of living, and sky-high housing prices, isn't rushing to add mouths to feed.

[@AndrewTran-bleh]

This video is Quite Literally very informative :)

[@QALibrary]

Wonder how much, under the one child policy, families favouring boys vs girls have created issues as well?

[@zayedbinimran957]

crap, they have 40 million more men than women

[@J_X999]

Not really. South Korea's fertility rate is even lower, they had no one child policy.

[@d.b.2215]

​@@J_X999but SK doesn't have this massive gender imbalance. So China's one child policy did make a big difference

[@J_X999]

@@d.b.2215 Yeah, no. The gender imbalance is irrelevant. South Korea doesn't have a gender imbalance and it's TFR is even lower than China's. This shows that the causes of a low birth rate are not linked to a one child policy.

[@sonneh86]

​@@J_X999SK at least managed to get rich before getting old

[@twlee1930]

The animations of charts where you animate "backwards" from the present day in the right to the past on the left is very distracting. It would be more useful to animate from past to present (left to right).

[@maxidaho]

Why does it look like you are being recorded in a smoke filled room?

[@DK-ev9dg]

He is acting like a mafia boss while talking about China because it adds bullying affects to the conversation

[@theconqueringram5295]

This doesn't surprise me, you can't limit your population to one or two children per couple (admittedly, there were exceptions) and expect them to maintain a healthy population.The One Child Policy will be remembered as one of the greatest mistakes in history. Although, the causes of China's demographic woes don't end there.

[@jwhite5008]

Yes but some sort of policy was needed at the time of introduction - the explosive population growth at the time outnumbered very small infrastructure they had at the time. They went for one of the worst option to remedy it and utterly failed to control cultural gender-imbalance. But the worst of it was that this "emergency response" policy should have been rescinded as soon as infrastructure caught up with population growth and cultural preferences around the 80s. That would not have had that much of effect, but it would have some. Ultimately though the entire reason for the crisis is not the policy but that it's way too expensive to afford a child, and Chinese seem to have utterly lost their faith in future. They don't want to raise children who will only suffer. Which is also a positive-feedback loop and a self-sustaining prophecy.

[@deezeed2817]

It was the Club of Rome who pushed the idea of "overpopulation" and Deng listened to them. Mao did not believe in overpopulation thus he never implemented birth controls.

[@DummyUseless-er3dn]

Ratio of home price to income is high in India too

[@zayedbinimran957]

bangladesh too infact we are facing brithrates problems worse than india

[@deathdrone6988]

With this year being the year of the dragon (chinese zodiac: more kids born in these years), and the worst of the covid situation over, there is a small chance China's population might increase slightly. A potential last spurt of growth before the inevitable fall...

[@loot6]

You'd think if they could ever do it it would be in the year of the dragon. REALLY does not look good though. If they did have the worst year economically it would be a huge blow for the pride of China being the year of the dragon and all.

[@kenster8270]

I doubt that this will have any significant impact on the birthrate overall, since the zodiac signs only recur every twlve years.

[@toolegittoquit_001]

Not a chance The Chinese hate China. Okay, the CCP 😏

[@tuehojbjerg969]

well last year China decreased with over 2 million people

[@robertewalt7789]

Investments that have no value - tofu dregs - count toward GDP, but don’t help the country.

[@OP10thNakama]

No amount of incentives will convince a couple to have kids if everything else around them is expensive.

[@Gaius_Julius_Caesar_Augustus]

Minor correction - at 6:13 you were suppose to make the blueish countries white not the redish ones

[@dustinabigan2776]

Directly giving incentives like cash transfers or extended leaves won't really work for fertility because they'll dry up at some point when you have the child. If your cash transfer system is for children under 3, then things will get difficult once your child is turns 4. It's just way too expensive for a lot of people to have kids so short term benefits like that rarely work, not to mention if they're not enough monetarily in the first place. It might encourage some people to have kids, but more poeple know better that they shouldn't, especially if they can simply look up online how expensive it can be to have a kid. It's basically a rabbit hole of expenses that's hard to climb out of, especially if something bad like another economic crisis gets thrown your way.

[@MBunn-uf1we]

Cost of living and being able to own a house seem the biggest factors in people wanting to raise children at all.

[@armiferafatum2459]

@@derek4412 i agree, but how would that be paid for? Attracting immigrants is a much cheaper solution, which of course has big side effects

[@nonmagicmike723]

Canada gives you cash every month for each child until they turn 18.

[@Obscurai]

@@nonmagicmike723 Yep, good for when you already have children and need to raise them, but fertility is not affected since the decision to have children is based on economic stability. Most people look at the high cost of housing, food and education and decide that children cannot be accomplished. This is why Canada needs immigration unless it can solve the economic stability issue. Canada is not alone with this problem - all countries struggle with economic stability. You must be able to see a plausible path to fund children to even start thinking about having children.

[@nonmagicmike723]

@@Obscurai It's just part of living in urbanized, rich countries. In high-GDP countries, you can do a lot of things with your income, so children decrease your standard of living because they take a lot of your time and effort regardless of how rich you are.

[@The2wanderers]

It's weird that the official fertility rate in 2010 was 1.5, while the 1-child policy was still in effect. So their official stance was that 1/2 of families were breaking the law.

[@user-tj3rm9wk5i]

minorities and people have twins

[@zayedbinimran957]

you could pay for a second child back then and the one child policy was basically scrapped in 2009 only later was it made official

[@JorgeM270]

Many rural people were exempt

[@masterchinese28]

Property prices are determined by how many years of the average wage it takes to buy the average apartment/house. If it already costs a thirty years of wages to buy a two-bedroom apartment and another ten years of wages to raise your little offspring, it's no wonder that people are unwilling to try to buy a bigger place or pay so much to raise and educate another kid.

[@travisdinham6084]

I'm always amazed that vpns are constantly advertised, like why...?

[@gregvanpaassen]

Housing. Chinese men can't marry until they have a house or apartment. Houses can either be investments, or affordable. Not both. The only way to get more children is to enable couples to marry earlier which means having a house in the man's early twenties, and to bring up children on one income.

[@jacksmith-mu3ee]

Source trust me bro

[@ironbolt2678]

I love how lowering of real estate prices is a “bad thing”

[@4tech404]

It's not unless you are China and your population put their savings into the property market because they don't have faith in banks or stock market. Then it's a very big issue.

[@tfive24]

In China, the only way the population can invest money. It's in real estate. So if housing goes down, a ,ot of people lose their life savings.

[@HarkDawg25]

It is when ppl bought it at a much higher price. Now they are in forever debt

[@brandonf1260]

It is when it's your entire life's savings.

[@Descriptor413]

@@brandonf1260 Homes being a family's main asset as a country's norm is usually a huge red flag since it's a largely non-productive asset that can only really gain in value through scarcity. It implies that your average person either isn't producing anything or isn't getting a fair value for their labor, both of which lead to long term instability.

[@x_xenvy1251]

All this time, I thought we needed less people and not worry about reducing our population.

[@zayedbinimran957]

we often dont realise that we are making a mistake until its too late

[@brandonf1260]

Yes

[@samd1824]

Can we just stop and give the guy credit for how hard he tried to pronounce li ke qiang

[@loot6]

Chinese names aren't really difficult to pronounce. The only reason we might have any difficulty is because Chinese don't normally use their names outside of China. They tend to call themselves Henry Wang of something instead of using their real name like the rest of the world. So we're not used to the names and the sounds of Chinese.

[@samd1824]

@@loot6 difficulty is relative to each person. If you have watched tldr for a while now, you know pronunciation of foreign words is something they open struggle with. So there’s no harm in giving them credit for trying to improve

[@loot6]

@@samd1824 My point is it's only difficult because we're not used to it due to Chinese people rarely ever using their own names abroad. You can give them credit but there's no good reason the names should be difficult in the first place since they're very short names and not difficult compared with other names from other countries that we have no problem with.

[@spookyghostwriter3110]

@@loot6While I generally agree with your statement that Chinese people don’t use their birth names in the West (I certainly don’t), there are a lot of exceptions (say, Simu Liu) and it varies on a person to person basis.

[@samd1824]

@@loot6 I am not sure. I mean I speak Chinese fluently. I think a lack of familiarity is part of it and you also have the intricacies of Chinese pronunciation that take a little bit of getting used to. But in general, i think they have said in the past, it’s not just Chinese, they struggle with words from loads of different languages. It’s just cool to see them really make the effort

[@uninstaller2860]

2 yrs of state sponsored parental leave for each child, the parents can divide how they see fit. Cheap daycare with small groups and in walking distance from home. Lower retirement age, so that grandparents can help out. Courses to help re-enter the work place. Bigger housing that is a lot cheaper. Worthwhile education for every child, nobody wants to bring a child into a world where they have no prospect. These are massive fixes every country should strive for. On a cultural level we can aim for a society where taking care of children is carried by a larger group than the nuclear family. A livable wage for everyone makes every job worthwhile. Maybe we wouldn't look down on janitors anymore. The work place culture is another thing. When people are overworked and stressed, they are never in the mood of some wohoo. A massive sugar tax could help people eat more healthy, too. Seeing people more as humans than a resource is the key. Democracy and workplace democracy would be nice. But that is bigger things to strive for, I'm not holding my breath, but I'm advocating for it in every step forward

[@brandonf1260]

This sounds great but you're delusional if you think any nation can do this. You're asking the government to pay MASSIVE amounts of money to cover for years worth of expenses. On top of that you're lowering the tax bracket? The only way to compensate is tax the young more which will make the problem worse.

[@Obscurai]

Indeed, baby booms happen when the economy is expected to do great and stay great. When WW2 ended, everyone could see that the world was going to be a better place and wanted to have children. When the cold war dragged on in subsequent decades, birthrates fell and people decided to focus on their own well being. This then culminated in high wealth concentration. The economy needs some revamping to change priorities.

[@johanneswerner7649]

​@@Obscuraithe Main reason the baby boomer Generation happened was because the pill was not invented yet...

[@KaiseruSoze]

Wrong. Automation and AI are booming everywhere. Take a look at modern factories and robotic agriculture. In another 5-10 yrs trucks and cars will be driving by computers (and airplanes). Call centers, telemarketing - AI. The list goes on. A shrinking population is adaptive to the modern world.

[@cosimomancio9301]

The 🌎 population HAS TO DECLINE FOR IT TO SURVIVE TO ABOUT 2-3 BIL.

[@leahsdreams]

I feel as though a lower birth rate and better incentives would make children that are more successful and productive. Compared with a higher birth population being born into poverty and being an eventual strain on the welfare system. But the work force needed is likely lower income anyhow...

[@janpiorko3809]

A lot of countries’ demographics keep getting worse.

[@0arjun077]

Yes but most of them are immigrant friendly than China.

[@nntflow7058]

To be fair, even in developing countries like India, fertility rate already fell below 2.1. And other poorer countries fertility rate is going the drain sooner than expected. The so called UN projection doesn't seem to accurate in the last few years.

[@Mark-gd2ti]

​@@0arjun077only thing in which Chinese are Damm right. Between a Sweden like scenario and population decline 100% population decline and we lower the pensions and higher the pension age and give more to the people who have children.

[@buchanfoulsham6314]

​@@nntflow7058why "so called"?? A projection is not an exact prediction.

[@nntflow7058]

@@buchanfoulsham6314 It's true, but there are many other organisation that provided a closer number compared to UN projections. I think they gather better datas and calculations compared to the UN. I think UN projections of 10 billion humans before 2100 is off the mark.

[@BryanO92]

It depends on to what degree the infertility is to do with cost of living anxiety and how much is naturally to do with industrialization, but sactrificing the real estate sector might be a fix. If you offer big tax incentives to both seniors and young couples to house share with each other, you cause rents and home prices to plummet, releasing tons of money into people's hands from both the tax and housing rellief, as well as reducing pressure on senior pensions. A baby boom might well follow.

[@KamiInValhalla]

From 1960-2000 they got 10 million plus births a year. No wonder the population is so high at over one billion. That's crazy

[@Jake1989dub1]

Honestly this video didn't mention it but this is another reason China can not afford a war where it loses a lot of young people. If they did it would just make things worse.

[@themisheika]

When has that ever bothered the generals and war profiteers before?

[@ctg4818]

They have 34 million more men than women wtf do you mean they cannot afford to use them as cannon fodder? lol

[@Kevin-kd6hf]

you are right, china needs to establish consumption-led economy before backing off from export led model. If they start to increase labor cost now, then their export starts to lose steam, which leads to lower salary, and even worse birth rate. This is similar to big tech falling down due to its difficulty in changing lanes when faced challenges of new tech, e.g. Nokia and Kodak. because either way could inflict huge cost. but if you dont change lane, you die. Eric Li has stated in an economic forum held in middle Asia late last year, saying that the transition of Chinese economy is made with huge effort and still ongoing, and could take 5-15 yrs to complete. the period will be painful but has to be done. so the pain bearing will have to continue for the chinese.

[@PeterSedesse]

It is a double-edged sword. There is no real way to transfer to a consumption based economy without tanking their entire economy for a generation. The ONLY advantage China has right now is they provide cheap labor to the west. As soon as they implement a minimum wage, all the western countries leave... and you can't have a consumption based economy without a big middle-class. Modi is basically doing the same thing in India... promising western companies he won't raise wages if they build factories there.

[@siertje100]

1:35 For some reason I dont trust the statistics between 2010 and 2020... it would make a lot more sense if that was a smoother line going downwards.

[@20quid]

Government statistics from before Xi took power were clearly massaged, but since he took power they have become completely unbelievable.

[@leomuller4716]

In our overpopulated world, why would this be a bad thing?

[@airtale8725]

Policy tips to increase fertility rates: -increase median wages and reduce GiNI -support a culture of communication, teach children in schools to socialise in assigments and teamworks -normalise socialising and talking to strangers -create 3rd places -provide free schooling -do NOT give benefits conditional of child bearing and multi-child households, it just disincetivises single child and two child parenting which is the step coming before that -reduce working hours -equalise sexes in employment, give fathers and mothers paid leave upon birth, normalise stay-at-home dads -support higher education programs which can be done along part-time jobs or children -reduce sexism -choke down speculative housing markets, and don't overrregulate the type of houses that can be built -tax unoccupied houses -create district based schooling, and infrastrucutre for children to get there -lower the upper-bracket of pensions to get finances -allow single parents and non-traditional families to adopt, and trust their survey on actual professionals rather than state guidelines

[@1mol831]

Some more tips: slash taxes for living in rural areas and increase taxes for living in urban areas.

[@airtale8725]

​@@1mol831 That's not a good idea, it will just increase housing taxes on the urban population which alreadyspends a lot on housing. Not everyone can or will move to the counties only due to fiscal pressure. If you want to move people as a policy to rural areas with empty houses and want to do it with tax changes then you don't do it trough lowering or increasing housing taxes, what you have to do in this case is to give a tax benefit of small and medium companies in the areas in question if they hire more people (as urbanisation happens mostly due to job and education option scarcity).

[@1mol831]

@@airtale8725 it will force people out of the cities and it becomes more challenging to live in them

[@airtale8725]

@@1mol831 As I said "Not everyone can or will move to the counties only due to fiscal pressure." Many families simply can't afford to move out of a city because they can only work there or because they own a house, and it will just make their lives worse for nothing.

[@1mol831]

@@airtale8725 natural selection

[@jurassictyrantkingYT]

*Reasons why China's population is declining.* 1. One-Child Policy, this is only the first reason, but maybe a mistake that China would have to take decades to reverse. 2. China Too expensive to have Children. 3. Young Chinese Men and Women migrate to Western countries in discontent for the Communist party and Power, fears of becoming Cannon Fodder in a war against Taiwan. 4. US and China Relations at a all time low. 5. China Population is old. 6. Horrible Work hours that would prevent young people from taking care of their children or having children.

[@J_X999]

The one child policy doesn't mean anything. South Korea has an even lower birth rate.

[@CatManOfTaste]

@@J_X999”only South Korea has lower” being the 2nd worst isn’t something to brag about

[@J_X999]

@@CatManOfTaste It's not something to brag about, and everyone willingly ignores it. Hence why I brought it up lol.

[@CatManOfTaste]

@@J_X999 what do you mean everyone’s ignoring it, in the context of talking about china, just because they aren’t the absolute worst, don’t mean there not in a bad spot

[@J_X999]

@@CatManOfTaste 🤦‍♂️

[@jalend9974]

Having kids is a long term life changing choice. All governments throughout the world regardless of their political system, have NO answer for the birthrate collapse coming in the next 60 years. It could get scary

[@user-zo4ut8mw7n]

We need to innovate business models, such as artificial intelligence+industrial robots+unmanned factories+internet celebrities bringing goods+logistics transportation. 1. Online shopping can reduce channel costs, relocate factories to rural China, and sell online, allowing everyone to find a job in their hometown. 2. Those who cannot become internet celebrities can engage in logistics transportation, robot maintenance, robot management, and robot production. 3. The impact of unmanned factories reducing population 4. New energy, automobiles, artificial intelligence, quantum technology, aerospace, cruise ships, semiconductor chips, nuclear energy, energy storage and other industries can be developed to replace the real estate industry

[@H1kari_1]

I am super confused as to why developed countries (I also count China) aren't already super doubling down on state AI and robotics research. These two things are the only things than can hold up an aged population with no noteworthy descendands. Instead they are betting on foreign immigration that, truth be told, will never work in the way imagine it. So instead of clinging to this pipe dream they should absolutely invest into robotics, especially for care of elderly people who do not have children.

[@matthewhungerford1861]

its building robots ect is still very expensive and expensive to repair them when they break down. robot repair is huge ongoing cost. requiring special metals build robots that are being used in the tech revolution currently.

[@hughmungus2760]

china is doing that. In terms of robot density per worker its risen from something like 30th place a decade ago to 5th in 2022 and probably 3rd this year.

[@ctg4818]

Even robotics is only a temporary solution when the metals are all mined up.

[@H1kari_1]

Bro when we reach that point, overaged population is one of our lesser problems.@@ctg4818

[@whatthebeepvideos]

Yes, we should have robots take care of the elderly, but as a punishment for not having kids. Put the fear of robot hospice in the populous.

[@hostedbysimples5416]

It's difficult enough to raise children in richer countries. The housing market, unemployment, low wages and now inflation is literally dooming every possible avenue for couples to have children, even if they want to. China has those same problems but on steroids. No wonder the fertility rate is on floor.

[@loot6]

China has the same problems except it's NOT a rich country, it's not even developed. Saying it's on steroids is an understatement.

[@gimmeadog]

If nations want policies to encourage population growth, they need to take it seriously. Four day work weeks. 6mo paternity leave. Massive increases to funding schools. Actual serious effort to curve climate change. Voting reforms to take power back from billionaires. Healthcare reform so it doesn’t bankrupt people just to give birth (calling out the USA in particular.)

[@karenwang313]

Not only are old people an economic liability, their sheer numbers combined with the fact that they vote in higher numbers guarantees that elected politicians will try to cater to them by passing policies that benefit the the elderly. All of which will be paid for by the young, who are the ones actually doing work and getting taxed. This added strain will probably cause the birth rate to continue to decline, perpetuating the death spiral. This is the endgame for every country with abysmal birth rates. The only saving grace of this is that it'll happen to Europe too.

[@johanneswerner7649]

Elected politicians in China?

[@ctg4818]

Less people just means shorter lines at the food banks

[@Alex.af.Nordheim]

I don't think they have elections in China

[@20quid]

The problem isn't the falling population, that's not a bad thing, the problem is that our economic systems are built to require infinite growth in a finite world where such growth is impossible and an unreasonable expectation.

[@nadie8093]

Then go tell all the people who would get condemmed to poverty in a stagnant China that their suffering isnt actually a bad thing

[@stuart4341]

Population decreases are a problem. A decreased population would make oir society no longer function. It takes thousands of people to build a smart phone from those who mine the minerals, who produce chips, assembly the phone, create the machinery, run factories, educate and train workers, import and export the needed materials and products etc. This is the same for literally everything that exists in modern society

[@feihceht656]

​@@stuart4341then we need to reorganize our society

[@HeadsFullOfEyeballs]

The problem is that when the population falls due to low birth rates (as opposed to a plague or something, which _removes_ people from all demographics, not just the young), it gets older. Fewer productive people having to do the work of sustaining more non-productive people is an issue even if you're just trying to maintain the current standard of living.

[@stuart4341]

@@feihceht656I agree however that can only do so much. I think though if we had more people we could achieve so much more than what we have.

[@lpfbjorge]

I once again find it funny that only a higher tax on *workers* is mentioned when talking about government funding. A tax on *capital* conveniently forgotten, once more.

[@krishnapujari8066]

Kindly use proper map of Republic of India at 2:32 You used a map that is not showing proper ladakh and jammu Kashmir

[@neronampo5200]

Well it's not exactly under Indian control.

[@krishnapujari8066]

@@neronampo5200 is tha whole yaman, Lebanon or Serbia have control on their territories. It's not all about control its about illigal occupation.

[@neronampo5200]

@@krishnapujari8066 the only country out of the 3 you mentioned that doesn't have control of all their land shown on the map is Yemen. Not sure why you mentioned Serbia and Lebanon cause that map shows all the territory they control. In the case of Yemen, it's an ongoing civil war with 2 sides that claim control of all the territory. Once the civil war is over, the country will either be split in 2 after a ceasfire with a new country emerging after getting enough international recognition or 1 side will regain control of all of it's territory. In the case of Kashmir, 3 countries claim the whole thing or parts of it as theirs and call each other illegal occupants of that land, it only makes sense to show what land they actually control- which has been the case for the past 60 years without any ongoing wars

[@sanjaybuildcon7380]

​@@neronampo5200 look into Serbia and Kosovo problem, ull find out the reason why he mentioned

[@ctg4818]

Only if you guys stop scam calling people 1st lol

[@baronvonjo1929]

I have always wondered if cities were a reason why some nations have drastic declines in birthrates. It seems fairly obvious that not many people would want kids in a cramped expensive apartment several stories up like what you see in lots of East Asia and dense cities of Europe. We mostly lived in rural communities for nearly all of recorded history. When urbanization really took off birthrates seem to have declined. Over in the US who has huge sprawl and single family homes and just space, they seem to have higher birthrates. But to be fair, theirs is in decline as well. I think there is so much more to it than that. But I think the giant cities of Asia are definitely a reason why people dont want kids as one of many reasons. Its just a reason I dont see people talk about.

[@mrantipatia1872]

It might be interesting to talk about Europe or America's demographic (or debt) crisis. I would also love to see more content about countries such as India, Mexico, Kazakhstan or ASEANS'. The world isn't just the EU, the USA or China. Great content as always!

[@alexisyukioyamato1127]

The one kid law was made for rock scientists?

[@Happiness.789]

Actual birth rate is lowest in the world.

[@PAlexi-iy7xj]

China's demographic crisis is regarded as dangerous due to several significant factors. First and foremost, the country is experiencing a rapidly aging population. The one-child policy, which was in place from 1979 to 2015, has resulted in a disproportionate number of elderly individuals compared to young working-age individuals. This imbalance poses immense challenges to the sustainability of China's economy and social welfare system. An aging population exerts tremendous pressure on the healthcare system and pension programs. As more people retire and fewer young workers enter the workforce, the tax revenue generated may not be sufficient to support the growing elderly population. This burden can lead to budget deficits and strains on public resources. Furthermore, an aging population negatively impacts the labor market. A smaller working-age population can result in labor shortages and hinder economic growth. Industries may struggle to find qualified employees, affecting productivity and competitiveness. Additionally, as the elderly face increased health issues and reduced mobility, they may become less able to contribute actively to the economy. Another consequence of China's demographic crisis is the gender imbalance caused by the traditional preference for male children combined with the one-child policy. This has led to a significantly higher ratio of men to women, which can result in social issues such as an increase in social unrest and crimes, human trafficking, and difficulties in finding suitable partners for marriage. Furthermore, the demographic crisis poses challenges to social welfare systems. With fewer young people entering the workforce, there may be a shortage of individuals contributing to support programs like healthcare, social security, and eldercare. This can strain the government's ability to provide adequate services to the aging population, potentially leading to a decline in living standards for older citizens. Overall, China's demographic crisis is dangerous due to its potential negative impact on the economy, labor market, social welfare systems, and social stability. Addressing this issue requires careful planning and policy adjustments to ensure the long-term sustainability of the country's population structure and economic development.Certainly! One of the concerning aspects of China's demographic crisis is the potential demographic drag on economic growth. With a shrinking workforce and a larger aging population relying on social services, the economy may experience reduced productivity and consumption. This can hinder the country's ability to sustain high economic growth rates, which it has relied upon for decades. Moreover, the demographic crisis poses challenges for China's healthcare system. As the aging population increases, the demand for healthcare services, particularly for age-related illnesses and long-term care, will surge. This can strain existing healthcare infrastructure, leading to overcrowded hospitals, longer waiting times, and potential resource shortages. Meeting the healthcare needs of a growing elderly population becomes increasingly difficult as the workforce responsible for providing these services faces their own challenges of scarcity. In addition to economic and healthcare implications, the demographic crisis can also impact China's social fabric. The substantial gender imbalance resulting from the one-child policy and traditional cultural preferences can lead to societal issues. A surplus of unmarried men might create social unrest, as individuals become frustrated or marginalized due to a lack of prospects in terms of marriage and family formation. Such scenarios have the potential to fuel criminal behavior, create social disparities, and contribute to social instability. It is worth noting that China recognizes the urgency and gravity of its demographic crisis. In recent years, the government has implemented policies to mitigate the consequences. They have relaxed the one-child policy to a universal two-child policy and more recently to a three-child policy. These changes aim to encourage larger families and address the declining birth rate. The government has also taken steps to raise the retirement age gradually and promote incentives for couples to have children, such as increased childcare support and improved work-life balance. Ultimately, resolving the demographic crisis in China requires comprehensive measures and long-term planning across various sectors. It necessitates efforts to bolster the labor force, support the aging population, enhance social services, and address gender imbalances. Successfully navigating and mitigating the dangers of this demographic crisis will be crucial for China's sustainable development and social stability in the coming years.

[@1mol831]

If the health care system doesn’t exist, it doesn’t exert pressure

[@user-hj9ot7zw8i]

You don't understand China at all. With a population of 1.4 billion, population decline is a good thing for China. As a Chinese, I'm too lazy to type and explain to you. China's national conditions require a reduction in fertility and population in order for the people to have better living conditions and unleash consumption. If China wants to become a developed country, its population must decrease to 1 billion.

[@kredo_i]

FREE UYGHURS

[@TheodorNilsson-gp4rt]

Indeed

[@hjalmarfreidenvall1655]

Neat

[@ddwkc]

I don't think incentives and being young poor are the only causes. Rapid urbanization is also a huge factor. Some poor countries have poor birthrates in their urban centers. Only thing helping their demographics is a huge rural population. However, by concentrating their economic power in a few cities, they are starting to drain the vitality out of their countryside. Urban life also brings huge lifestyle changes. Urban lifestyle just doesn't work for huge families. Suburban lifestyle should be the alternative for urban people, but it is a trap. The amount of families needed to have 4+ kids to compensate for couples who has less than 2 kids and forever single people is quite small. Most sane families will only have 2 kids tops. Maybe it is possible to have cities that are great for kids, but it would necessitate huge societal and economic changes.

[@timothytumusiime2903]

South Korea's situation is very concerning

[@onlyfacts4999]

They need to scrap pensions and tell everyone to have kids in order to take care of them in old age.

[@lapz78]

Yeah that surely wouldn’t collapse the Chinese state

[@shivanshna7618]

​@@lapz78yeah but doing nothing will also collapse them though I don't agree with comment that they should abolish pension.

[@johnl.7754]

Then people will have even less kids since saving/investing the money to raise the children is a sure thing but having children care for you is a uncertainty.

[@Mark-gd2ti]

Surely pensions will disappear, people must understand that either they have children or no pension. This must be state policy. If you don't have children it means you spent less money because you didn't have to raise them.... I am talking about equality the privilege of not having children is a privilege you pay for.

[@howardyates4848]

The children are already taking care of old people. Its one of the reasons they arent making children, one person supports 6 old people

[@millwow]

I wonder if the property crisis and the demographic crisis are intertwined. How can people have children if they cant afford to move out from their parents? It would be very interesting to see an analysis comparing house price affordability indices (average house prices / average incomes) and fertility rates by nations.

[@Angel-ei1ip]

They are. But it’s only one strand in a whole web of things contributing to China’s demographic issues.

[@DD-sr9xm]

It’s not just the one child policy. The biggest impact has been urbanisation. China had the most extreme urbanisation in global history in 2005 33% of Chinese lived in cities but just 10 years later 67% lived in cities. In rural areas children are considered as assets; to work on the farm, to care for the livestock, etc. in urban areas children are expenses; you need a larger apartment, day care, schooling, etc. THATS what has suck the fertility rate.

[@johnm288]

Unfortunately this problem exists across the entire west too and there seems to be nothing any country can do to reverse it. The west is just better at hiding the symptoms with mass immigration but of course this brings its own problems too.

[@TheKazragore]

Oh there is plenty that can be done, but it involves politicaly unpalatable solutions because a plurality of voters exist in the older age groups that would be impacted, and so the problem is thus allowed to continue getting worse.

[@blazer9547]

Have more children then I've 4. One child will reduce 4 immigrants.

[@20quid]

Who said it was a problem?

[@PeterSedesse]

what makes you think immigration is a problem? Unless you are worried about ' blood lines'.. there is no problem with immigration in the USA because wages are increasing and unemployment is at 50 year lows despite a lot of immigration.

[@lamentate07]

@@PeterSedesse It leads to social fragmentation, especially if it isn't well managed.

[@andrewbobb3170]

Speculating on how to turn demographic collapse around is pointless, since no one has ever done it. Historical examples of such collapse (e.g., at the end of the Bronze Age) are generally associated with the obliteration of the affected civilization.

[@Mark-gd2ti]

Japan in 3 few years will be able to make children in laboratory.....

[@ShadowPhoenixMaximus]

I wouldnt be surprised if we start getting reports of the CCP forcing women to have children.. like a certain party in Germany did in the 1930-1940's.

[@devanman7920]

Yes because if it hasn't happened before it can't happen ... seriously man? 😂

[@Twinkiepower420]

There’s no evidence of this style of demographic collapse being the causal factor behind the Bronze Age Collapse. There’s not enough evidence to even have a definitive answer. People left their homes and migrated but that is not the same as a society that spent three generations restricting people’s ability to give birth and then creating an economy where people can’t begin to have more kids. And either way, that would not mean reversing a downturn in birth rates is impossible. Or that reversing social collapse is impossible since that’s a term we don’t impose upon times until they’ve already collapsed. This is really bad history.

[@andrewbobb3170]

@@Twinkiepower420 I didn't say "caused." I said "associated with." Nor did I say it was irreversible, just that we don't have any basis to claim any particular action would be effective. It is a great unknown, since all previous demographic collapses effectively went to completion.

[@m4rkscott]

Have they ever thought of not controlling how many kids people have

[@Keln02]

Problem is the same everywhere: people can't afford to make kids

[@pikapi6993]

poor people have more kids than rich people.

[@lapz78]

@@pikapi6993that is because in poor countries kids are cheaper to have. Having a kid in Nigeria would be a net positive because they can provide labor and help with tasks. In the US having a kid is a net negative as you need to pay for expensive things that I’m sure you can think of

[@shivanshna7618]

​@@lapz78it's not true for even Nigeria anymore they're sitting on bomb

[@only_fair23]

​@@lapz78You don't need to pay for these things, you want to pay for these things to give your children a good life. My children can just persist off noodles, cereal and hand-me downs for their entire childhood if needed, like I mostly did. But I want my children to have a better life.

[@useodyseeorbitchute9450]

People can't afford... due to their increasing expectations. If you compare conditions between generations, we're doing OK.

[@J_X999]

The problem is the cost of living. The people who disagree should try and buy some property and see how much money they have left. "But poor people have more children than rich people." Yes, and that is exactly why they are POOR. More kids means more cost which means less disposable income.

[@Tony63716]

Don't worry about China, worry about your own country.

[@shaunmckenzie5509]

In years to come, a 2 million loss will be nothing. In coming years they'll be losing 10 million a year

[@quintama1007]

This whole "you should have baby for the economy" thing is insane to me. I'm childfree but if I were to have kids the reason would be "the world is great place and I want my children to experience this great world" or something like that. You know, for them, not for us or for the economy. But the most people know that isn't the case. The world is shitty place and increasingly shittier. So they must came up with this insane argument.

[@alexpotts6520]

Half in agreement with this. It's not so much "you have a duty to make babies", as "the state has a duty to create a society where people want to make babies". Also, it's just empirically false that the world is becoming an increasingly shittier place. I hate to be all "look at this graph going upward", but... yeah, the graph is going upward, and a child you have today will have better life chances than 99% of children that have ever existed.

[@Obscurai]

Correct, baby booms happen when the economy is expected to do great and stay great. When WW2 ended, everyone could see that the world was going to be a better place and wanted to have children. When the cold war dragged on in subsequent decades, birthrates fell and people decided to focus on their own well being.

[@alexpotts6520]

@@Obscurai I struggle to take this theory seriously. We've had high fertility for pretty much the whole of human existence until the 1960s and 70s (in the developed world) - and living conditions for nearly all of that time were unthinkably miserable by modern standards. Still, today, by far the highest fertility is in the third world. It's not really credible to try and tie fertility to prosperity, when a more zoomed-out view of the data shows that if anything fertility is highly correlated with deprivation. A much more credible explanation for falling fertility is the introduction of contraception to society, especially the pill. It turns out that nature didn't actually program us to want kids, it programmed us to want sex, and once we discovered a way to have one without the other, humanity signed its own death warrant. (Sorry to be bleak about this, but unless society finds a way to get people to want to have >2 kids again, that's the way we're headed in the long term.)

[@Obscurai]

@@alexpotts6520 Agreed that historical economics were horrible, but children were seen as the economic solution at the time. They are no longer seen as an economic benefit to the family, and instead are viewed as a expense. So what did cause the baby boom after WW2 then if it wasn't economic stability?

[@alexpotts6520]

@@Obscurai Well, quite frankly making up for lost time. There were six years where couples of childbearing age couldn't start families, and then suddenly they could again.

[@1verstapp]

considering that pooh bear is the cause of the current economic fiasco i can't see him doing anything to repair the damage he's done. >children you say they've been offered money, but perhaps not ENOUGH money. if pooh offers $1/week for each new pregnancy, and it doubles every week, then by the time it gets to $1B/wk i'll be looking to get my vasectomy reversed.

[@KJSvitko]

Population needs to be in balance with jobs, resources, nature and the environment. Having a bigger population in any country than the country can support makes no sense. Access to food, water, shelter, energy and jobs should guide population levels. The worlds population is still expected to add another billion people to feed, clothe and produce pollution. Humans are crowding out all other species of plants and animals. Education and birth control are key to reducing poverty and hunger. Having a child that you can not provide for yourself is cruel and irresponsible. We need solutions not just sympathy. Endless population growth is not sustainable on a finite planet. Every country needs to "TRY" to be more self sufficient. When there are not enough resources to sustain a population something has to give. Countries need to focus on quality of life for their citizens and not just quantity of life for cheap labor. Why import fossil fuels when wind and solar energy can be produced locally and solar energy can power electric vehicles. We need solutions not just sympathy.

[@diannewang371]

I’m from the one child policy generation and for those couples who are from the same gen like me, they’re not interested in having kids because it costs them too much money.

[@kushalvora7682]

I think governments all around the world should accept the fact that low fertility rates are here to stay even with good work life balance and low cost of living. Instead of trying to increase fertility rates, change the economic policies to adapt to the change. Invest in technology to increase healthspan, automate routine tasks etc

[@Rubashkyn1]

Just saying that next year will be the year of the Dragon, during Dragon years Chinese are incentivised to have kids which may change a bit the low fertility read in 2023. But this is just a small factor in the great scheeme of things in the long term where it is obvious that China is experiencing a demographic crisis

[@debater452]

Nobody in China can actually afford having kids

[@J_X999]

​@@debater452Nobody in the world.

[@gfys756]

​@@J_X999Africa and the Middle East still enjoy birthrates beyond replacement levels.

[@J_X999]

@@gfys756 They don't matter.

[@gfys756]

@@J_X999 They absolutely do matter. If you're in the USA, parts of Asia, and especially Europe, Africans and Middle Easterners will ultimately be paying your pensions if/when you get older.

[@richdobbs6595]

This problem can be solved in the future by the "One Grandparent Policy".

[@1mol831]

What does that imply?

[@richdobbs6595]

@@1mol831 Yes.

[@wangzhi1948]

wow,so we are in crisis again? didn't you people talking that for last twenty years? come on,find something new,we are really boring.

[@jesseberg3271]

Xi doesn't want Chinese children to have the kind of childhood that Chinese parents would want to give them, because he thinks it would make them "lazy". One man's nostalgia for his own miserable childhood is holding up the progress of an entire country.

[@hughmungus2760]

thats just called being a conservative.

[@jesseberg3271]

@@hughmungus2760 that's true, but in most countries, one curmudgeonly old conservative is merely an annoyance. Even if he's a billionaire with a media empire, he needs to rally some level of public support to get his policies enacted. If those policies are holding back the entire country's economy, he's going to have to fight other rich people who care more about being rich than social conservativism. But in this case, Papa Xi is able to hold up the progress of the entire country, a country that has the second largest population and the second largest economy on the planet, just because he's old and doesn't want kids who are focused on pop-singers and fashion.

[@hughmungus2760]

@@jesseberg3271 you could easily argue that the wealthy conservative class in just about every western country are collectively holding back their own economies by ingratiating themselves. Just look at all the asset bubbles in the west, be it stocks, property and now crypto. These bubbles actively hurt the youth in their ability for upward social mobility. Particularly with property. Xi also doesn't rule at a whim despite what you might think. China is naturally a very conservative place where the older generation doesn't approve of kids being lazy or becoming pop singers. The only reason Xi is even getting involved in the whole cultural influence thing is to appeal to the public for political capital. Which he needs to force through costly reforms to things like Pensions and housing.

[@caseclosed9342]

Fun fact: China’s family planning policy was actually largely inspired by western environmentalists who were concerned about overpopulation (the so-called “Population Bomb”). The book “Limits to Growth” was a main inspiration.

[@dcc70]

I think the famine that resulted from the "great leap backward" had something to do with it as well

[@freeheeler09]

As populations peak throughout the world, this will be a widespread phenomenon. The works does not have the food, water or resources to continue to sustain 8 billion people, and our millions of square kilometers of concrete and industrial farms and pollution. Japan’s and South Korea’s economies have slowed a bit. But they still have some of the highest population health and standards of living in the world.

[@Jdne199311]

that one child policy is really hurting them now.

[@johnmurithi8947]

This video is confusing, 1. China has birthrate issue. 2. The only way to solve it is to reduce youth employment and lower housing prices which are higher than in US 3. There is a problem in china because housing prices have dropped 🤔

[@hughmungus2760]

its almost as if china is making the hard choice to crack down on the housing market for long term goals. Something you'll never see done in any western country because that would lose you elections. Remember Evergrande went bust because the government introduced new laws breaking its business model. The government is also refusing to bail out the housing market.

[@OnlineEnglish-wl5rp]

I notice Chinese young people frustrated at their housing and unemployment situation aren't hating on their elderly like British kids are incited to do

[@evilds3261]

They're taught to hate in silence - this is because verbalizing hate in general could be misconstrued for dissent and then the government will silence them. So, they covertly and indirectly express their emotions to avoid suspicion. They bury and mask their feelings. It's a different culture there.

[@OnlineEnglish-wl5rp]

@@evilds3261 Hmmm having lived and worked in China I'm not convinced about that. They are pretty open about their loathing of the West now The fact of the matter is the British media have incited young people to look in all the wrong directions for the root causes of their housing situation. The Chinese have chosen to promote social harmony - partly because they are getting ready to confront America

[@lamentate07]

Because they know they will inherit money and property, unlike Anglo Saxons.

[@ctg4818]

Yeah why hate on the rich boomer lords? lmao

[@OnlineEnglish-wl5rp]

@@ctg4818 Your comment only serves to illustrate my point. You don't have the guts to point the finger at the government and the super wealthy interests it serves so you'll stiff the pensioners and your parents instead

[@paul1979uk2000]

Considering that A.I. and robotics could have a massive impact on the job market, the old and tax burden might not be as big of an issue as we might think, after all, if A.I. and robotics takes over the majority of the workforce, having fewer people able to work might end up becoming an advantage, or to put it another way, we could end up in a system where it's not just the old we need to support but the young as well, being that most might not be able to find a job as A.I. and robotics ends up doing most of it. As for taxes, well that's based on workload, if A.I. and robotics ends up doing most of our work in society, there's going to be far less taxes needed to maintain the system, robotics only need energy, which could become abundance in the future thanks to alternate energy sources like renewables, the workforce becomes dirt cheap, more or less free and probably in a lot of ways, able to do the work better and faster than we can do it. With the advancement of A.I. and robotics and how it's speeding up, maybe a declining population for a few decades is a good thing, especially with how crazy it's gone over the last 50 years, but I do feel that we need some balance replacement rate when it comes to birth rates, this is also the case for modern economies like the EU and US, that without immigration and the natural births they have, which tend to be higher than the natives, population decline would be happening in these countries as well. It would become ironic that there's worry about the burden on the younger generation and not being enough of them to support the older generation, only to find out that in the decades to come, there's not enough jobs to go around to support the younger generation that having more of them actually becomes a bigger burden. Before all this craze with A.I. I was thinking we were around 50 years off before we get to the point of A.I. and robotics replacing most job, but now that it's becoming more accessible by the masses, which means the pace of the development in that area is likely going to skyrocket, as we are seeing early signs off over the last year, we could be getting to that situation far sooner than expected, which is going to be a massive upheaval of the entire system, for all countries, that I don't think the population, replacement rate, young and old is going to matter that much, but what could matter is how the system changes to the new reality that's on its way, which sad to say, systems change quite slowly to the point of braking, that I think in a lot of countries, things could get worse before they get better, and honestly, I think we are going to need some form of basic human income for all, as I don't think there's going to be enough jobs to go around, even if we try to create new jobs, A.I. and robotics will likely be able to do them cheaper, better and faster than we can do. On the plus side, that frees us up to work on things we really want to do without having to worry about the basic things like bills and food, so the demographics in the future might not be as big as a deal as we think if A.I. and robotics takes over the majority of the workforce, which is looking very likely, the real issue might not be the population or the age of the population, but more about what the population does in life, being that work as been a very central focus points for humans for a long time.

[@themisheika]

Bold (and stupid) of you to assume govts would care about the peasants once AI has taken all of their jobs - it certainly didn't work for Victorian England and the industrial revolution where 2/3 of the population were left to rot BELOW the poverty line from the introduction of machinery. If AIs and robotics were aimed at replacing politicians and c-suite executives instead as they should, you can bet your arse bots like you won't even be singing praises of AIs in the first place.

[@SidewaysCytlan]

Housing is indeed extremely important for would-be parents. I know I'm not going to have any until I can have a place to call home, and pissing away half my income to service someone elses mortgage to live in their house isn't going to make it my home any time soon.

[@zayedbinimran957]

i agree but it isnt the only issue, the second major and one of the only major economic hurdles for would be parents other than housing is education as if you cant affords to educate your child then that childs llife would end up being miserable other than these two there arnet many other major economic hurdles only social ones

[@user-gb9js6cp6v]

Extremist TLDR News Channel😅

[@useodyseeorbitchute9450]

Extremist? Looks to me merely like the mainstream, but in contact with reality. ;)

[@Jeevanm71]

No video ever talks about why China isn’t opening up immigration

[@ctg4818]

Not all races get along

[@rttrttyan]

⁠@@ctg4818 Why would race play a part in who “gets along”? I’m honest, straight forward, and loyal to my friends. I get along with people who are the same way, regardless of their race. (That only tells you where their family lineage comes from and not who they are as a person.)

[@de132]

Because the truth is, the CCP is threatened by anything that breaks the convention of Han Chinese politik. It's why they hammer at the ethnic minorities in the country.