Vietnam's two-child policy
HANOI - Seven years after introducing a two child per
family policy, Vietnam's population control
programme has become one the most effective
in the world.
In the late 1980s Vietnamese women had an
average of 3.8 children - that compares with
2.3 children today.
Officials say that
reduction has been a
crucial element of the
economic and social
development
programmes introduced
in the era of Doi Moi or
renovation.
"They have been very
successful," said Omar
Ertur the UN Population
Fund's Representative
in Hanoi. "They have
achieved a tremendous
reduction in a very short period of time."
A degree of coercion is used to enforce the
two-child policy.
Communist Party members who have more than
two face automatic expulsion and parents are
often asked to pay the health and education
costs of a third child. More serious sanctions
include having land confiscated.
Sons and daughters
But while some local authorities and employers
impose penalties, they are not enforced on a
nationwide basis.
Some families still go
for three or more
children. In many such
cases they are couples
who have had two
daughters and want a
son.
There is also a
tendency for poorer
families to have larger
families.
Family planning officials
argue that as their education programmes
begin to hit home, there is less and less need
for coercion.
"We have focussed on information and
education so people can persuade themselves
that having a smaller family will bring benefits
to them," said Tran Tien Duc, the Information
Director of the National Committee for
Population and Family Planning.
"We have conducted surveys and have come
to the conclusion that coercive measures do
not play an important role in reducing
population growth."
Changing attitudes
There is evidence that attitudes to family size
are changing. Many young people - especially
in cities - say they don't want too many
children.
"My friends want just one or two children so
that they can enjoy their life," said Khanh, 38,
who works for a western company in Hanoi.
"Now we have a new
concept of quality of
life - if we have too
many children we have
to find the money to
support the babies and
we have to spend so
much time looking after
them."
Despite the steady
drop in the population
growth rate throughout
the 1990s officials fear
there are still too many people being born.
The Vietnamese population, currently 79
million, increases by over one million every
year.
But there are no plans to emulate neighbouring
China's one-child policy.
"We consider two children is a very reasonable
fertility level for our country," says Mr Duc.
Abortion
One reason why Vietnam is holding back from a
one-child policy is a fear the population's
gender balance would be affected.
"In so called chopstick culture countries - like
Vietnam, China, Korea, Japan and Taiwan -
there is still a strong son preference." added
Mr Duc.
"If you have a one-child policy many couple
will try to have only a boy."
There are already over 900,000 officially
registered abortions in Vietnam each year.
In many cases people use abortion as a form
of contraception. But as modern technology
makes it easier to identify the sex of a foetus,
abortions can be used to ensure the birth of a
son rather than a daughter.
By Owen Bennett-Jones - BBC News online - November 8, 2000.
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