Creating conditions for young people to choose parenthood

When Beijing chose "caring for early pregnancy, nurturing and empowering" as the focus for this year's World Population Day on July 11, some wondered if that was really a priority. Factor in that China's population has contracted, its birth rate has plunged to record lows and the total fertility rate is stuck below the replacement level — and the answer is clearly yes.

On the surface, focusing on providing care in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy seems almost quaint when fewer women are choosing to conceive in the first place. However, this narrowing of focus is not a retreat from the broader fight. It is a calculated repositioning — after years of providing subsidies, extended leave and expanding childcare facilities, it is now not the cost that is the decisive barrier to childbearing, but the anxiety that precedes the very decision to conceive.

Over the past decade, China's profertility policies have largely been aimed at reducing the financial and logistical burdens of raising a child.

The 3,600-yuan ($531) annual childcare subsidy, the 158-day maternity leave, and the push for affordable nursery slots were all necessary, and all welcome. But these measures are applicable only after a woman has already decided to carry a pregnancy to term. What about the fear, confusion and lack of support that so often accompany that decision in the first place?

That is where early pregnancy clinics come in.

As of last month, China had established 12,226 such clinics — one-stop centers that offer medical assessments, psychological counseling and nutritional guidance to women in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy.

The rationale is rooted in both medicine and psychology.

The first trimester is the most vulnerable period for both mother and fetus and also the moment when worries — about health, medication safety or how it will affect career, if left unaddressed — can tip a woman toward terminating her pregnancy.

By providing timely, authoritative guidance and emotional reassurance, early pregnancy clinics aim to ease anxieties before they harden into a decision.

The 10-point health education guidelines, published by health authorities this month — covering diet, exercise, emotional well-being and risk avoidance — are also designed to demystify early pregnancy.

Together, they offer young women a clear road map at a time when uncertainty often dominates.

In a country where nearly half of all births are firstborn children — and many couples are navigating pregnancy for the first time — this clarity can be decisive.

Critics may argue that structural pressures — housing costs, job insecurity, education expenses — are still overwhelming. But the strength of this approach lies in sequencing: one cannot address the full chain of barriers if the first link is ignored.

Whether this bet pays off will take years to assess. Yet the direction is unmistakable: in addressing demographic decline, China has stopped simply asking young people to have more children — and has started building the conditions that might make them want to.

— LI LEI, CHINA DAILY