"When was your last period?"中 The reason for excessive involvement in privacy

Capture the New York Times (NYT)

As China's fertility rate plummeted, foreign media reports said authorities were mobilizing government officials to directly investigate pregnancy and childbirth plans of women of childbearing age and excessively intervening in privacy.

The New York Times (NYT) reported on the 8th that the government is putting explicit pressure on China to increase the fertility rate, with government officials visiting from house to house to ask if they are pregnant or have plans to give birth.

According to reports, a 28-year-old Chinese woman, Yang Yu-mi, went to register her marriage and received free maternal vitamins from government officials. Since then, the official continued to check his condition by phone, asking if he had taken vitamins. Then, when he gave birth, he came home and asked the three of them to take a picture with the baby.

Seven out of 10 Chinese women met by the New York Times said they had been asked about their pregnancy plans by government officials. There was even a post online that said, "I even received a call from a public official asking me about my menstrual cycle and my last menstrual date."

The newspaper analyzed that the Chinese government, which faces a decline in population that threatens economic growth, even intervenes in the most private choice of deciding whether to give birth or not.

In response, Chinese women generally complained of inconvenience, calling it excessive intervention, but some thanked the government for its interest.

Meanwhile, China's total fertility rate is estimated to be 1.0 as of last year, lower than that of the United States (1.62).

Reporter Park Sun-young of Digital News Team