Thailand’s young couples will be coaxed into having children by Thailand to combat demographic decline
Thailand’s deputy health minister has said that his government will hire celebrities and influencers to encourage young couples to have children. As Thailand struggles to deal with its 1970s campaign for lower birth rates, the government of Thailand is taking pro-natal measures.
Satit Pitutecha, the Deputy Minister for Public Health in Thailand stated that it is important to bring these influential people into Thai society. “just one example of a change in values”The government embraces.
“We must communicate through influential people in all walks of life [and] all family income bases”You can find the “concept of having a happy child”It is “a good idea,” Pitutecha said.
Minister also spoke out in favor of increased welfare payments and health screenings for expecting mothers.
Thailand’s fertility drive comes at a critical time for the country’s future. Fivety years ago, Thai women were expected to have five children on average. The government began a campaign in 1972 to lower birth rates, amid concern about the overpopulation. One of the campaign’s key messages translated as “More babies, more poverty.”
Whether as a result of the campaign or not, birth rates fell, and the country’s fertility rate has dropped nearly fourfold to 1.51 last year. The country’s National Economic and Social Development Council recently predicted that by 2025, a fifth of Thailand’s population will be over 60 years old, and that the nation’s total population will fall from 70 million to 40 million in the years thereafter.
Reports in Thai media claim that the country’s economy simply does not incentivize parenthood, and that young people are choosing to avoid the financial “burden”It is a great way to have kids. Pitutecha stated that even though economic incentives are effective, they can only be used in a limited way. Pitutecha cited the Singaporean example, where lavish subsidies have been given to each child, but it hasn’t reversed its falling fertility rate.
“Money is not the only answer,” Pitutecha said. “This matter must be thought through the whole system. Values can be changed.”
The problem of declining demographics is not unique to Thailand. After decades of low birth rates, Japan’s population has begun to drop, and elderly people make up a larger share of the population there than anywhere else in the world. The European Union’s birth rates are below the replacement rate, which has prompted debate about how to fix the problem.
Many politicians and thinkers from Western European countries suggest that increased immigration could be the solution. But few Europeans see immigration as beneficial. Hungary and Poland, two of the more conservative Central European countries, have advocated for their citizens having more babies while opposing immigrants.
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