"Are You Pregnant Now?": Chinese Government Workers Calling Women With Bizarre Question

Amid the continuously decreasing population trend, Chinese government officials are ringing women in the country, asking them if they are currently expecting a child and urging them to get pregnant, according to a report in South China Morning Post. The new policy by the grassroots government workers is in stark contrast to the previous guidelines when the communist regime spent decades imposing strict birth control measures. Jane Huang, a 35-year-old woman and mother of one, residing in the southeast coastal province of Fujian, was called by an officer earlier this month.

As per Huang, the randomness of the subject of the call made her laugh as the officer attempted to fish out the information.

"[Hello!] Is that Ms Huang? Sorry to disturb you. I am from your sub district office, are you pregnant now?" Huang described the call.

"The surveyor must be from the previous generation, who did not realise that she was talking to a whole different generation that values privacy, quality of life and choices much more," she added.

A post shared on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu also went viral where a user claimed to have received a similar call.

"I got a call from a grassroots (worker) this morning asking if I was pregnant," read the post, according to CNA.

Also read | Kindergartens Shrink In China As Falling Birth Rate Triggers Crisis

China facing population crisis

Having been overtaken by India as the most populous nation, China is facing its biggest demographic crisis with only nine million births recorded in 2023, the lowest since 1949, as per government data. Factoring in the 11.1 million deaths suggests that China's population shrank by 2.08 million after falling 850,000 in 2022.

One of the major reasons for the drop in population is the decline in the fertility rate which stood at 1.09 per cent in 2022. Meanwhile, a Pew Research report has claimed that by 2035, a third of China's population (400 million) is expected to be above the age of 60. China, which prides itself in being the 'world's factory', needs the young population to drive its manufacturing business which might suffer as the population decline worsens.

Notably, China abolished the one-child policy to control its population in 2020. Under this policy, those who had more than one child had to pay a hefty fine.