Draft Law on Population: Enhancing the responsibility and obligations of husband and wife in having children

Many regulations are no longer relevant.

Previously, the 2008 Population Ordinance amended Article 10 of the 2003 Population Ordinance, stipulating that each couple and individual is entitled to:

"1. Decide on the time and spacing of births. 2. Give birth to 1 or 2 children, except in special cases prescribed by the Government...". However, when the 2013 Constitution was enacted, some of these regulations were no longer appropriate. According to the Ministry of Health, the regulation on the right of couples and individuals to decide on the number of children is consistent with the 2013 Constitution on human rights and civil rights; consistent with international treaties to which Vietnam is a member regarding population work, and political commitments that Vietnam has made at multilateral forums on reproductive rights.

Regarding the consultation on the draft of the new Population Law, in the impact assessment report being consulted, the Ministry of Health also pointed out that since 2006, our country has achieved the replacement fertility rate and maintained the fertility rate around the replacement fertility rate nationwide. Even now, the replacement fertility rate is at its lowest level in the past 12 years and is forecast to continue to decrease in the following years.

Most recently, the total fertility rate in 2022 reached 2.01 children/woman; in 2023 it was 1.96 children/woman. The fertility rate still varies significantly between regions and groups, and this difference has not been clearly narrowed. In particular, the trend of not wanting or having very few children has appeared in some urban areas, where economic conditions are developed. In some places with difficult socio-economic conditions, the fertility rate is still high, even very high at over 2.5 children/woman. According to current statistics, nationwide, there are 21 provinces and cities with low fertility rates, some provinces even have very low fertility rates, concentrated in the Southeast region, the Mekong Delta and some Central Coast provinces.

To maintain a stable replacement level of fertility (an average of 2.1 children per woman of childbearing age) nationwide, the Ministry of Health proposes that couples and individuals have the right to decide voluntarily, equally and responsibly on whether to have children, when to have children, and the number of children. The interval between births should be appropriate to the age, health status, education, work, income and child-rearing conditions of the couple or individual.

By "Empowering couples to decide on the timing of childbirth, the number of children and the spacing between births", according to the Ministry of Health, this solution overcomes the situation of a very low birth rate that is difficult to recover as experienced by some countries, causing severe population aging, negatively affecting economic and social development, ensuring national defense and security.

Difficult problem for Nghe An

While many provinces and cities across the country have low fertility rates or have reached replacement fertility levels, Nghe An is still a province with a high fertility rate and is one of the four provinces with the largest population in the country. Currently, the population of the whole province is more than 3.5 million people (ranked 4th in the country); it is the province with the 6th highest fertility rate in the country (2.61 children/woman) and still has an increasing trend.

It is worth noting that the birth rate of the third child or more has decreased but not significantly and is still very high (28.08%); the gender imbalance at birth is high (116.33 boys/100 girls); although population quality has been improved, it is still low... In fact, while the whole country has shifted its focus from population - family planning to population and development, Nghe An is still having to carry out two tasks in parallel, which are to both reduce the birth rate and improve population quality.

From the above difficulties, if the new Population Law is passed and officially promulgated, the propaganda and mobilization of people to properly implement population policy will still face many difficulties.

In Xuan Lam commune (Hung Nguyen), a densely populated commune (merged from Hung Xuan and Hung Lam communes), there are many special subjects, so each year the number of children born in the commune is very high, the rate of third child birth accounts for a large proportion. In recent years, although there have been many solutions, mobilizing people to reduce births is still very difficult. Recently, the trend of having a third child has focused more on families with good economic conditions and a part of cadres, workers and civil servants.

Through the practice of population work at the grassroots level, Ms. Nguyen Thi Van, a Population Officer - Xuan Lam Commune Health Center (Hung Nguyen), said: We agree with the policies and guidelines set forth by the Party and the State. However, in the implementation process, it is necessary to be consistent with the characteristics of each region so that we can rely on regulations to mobilize people to improve population quality. The goal is to ensure the interval between births, the number of children born, and how to have appropriate policies to help people raise their children well, ensuring social security issues.

In Vinh city, where the birth rate is still high, the rate of giving birth to a third child or more is over 20% in some places. Ms. Phung Thi Thanh, Head of the Population - Communication Department - Vinh City Medical Center expressed her concern: "I think that when the new Population Law is passed, it will create favorable conditions for many families, especially those with high economic and educational levels, who want to have more children. Thus, the pressure will be on those working in population work, especially when this task is currently facing many difficulties. Not to mention, if the birth rate increases, the long-term pressure on the city will be on schools, health care, and exams. These are difficult problems that have been going on for many years in Vinh city."

Regarding this issue, Mr. Nguyen Huu Quang, Head of the Communication - Education Department, Provincial Department of Population - Family Planning, said that in the current general context of the whole country, when the total fertility rate in recent years has continuously decreased, it will lead to many long-term consequences, rapid population aging, labor shortage, affecting social security... Moreover, if the fertility rate falls below the replacement level, it will be very difficult to increase the fertility rate again. Therefore, if the current regulation "Each couple or individual only has one or two children, except in special cases prescribed by the Government..." is still maintained, it will no longer be suitable for the general context in the future.

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The regulation of the rights and obligations of each couple in having children in the Population Law will help ensure the constitutionality, legality, and consistency of the policy with the legal system, contributing to institutionalizing the Party and State's guidelines, policies, and guidelines on population work in the new situation.

Mr. Nguyen Huu Quang - Head of Communication and Education Department, Provincial Department of Population and Family Planning

However, in addition to the general regulations, in the context of Nghe An, Mr. Quang said that, along with the fact that "couples and individuals have the right to decide on the time of giving birth, the number of children and the interval between births", people also need to pay attention to many other contents in the draft, which are "the obligations of couples and individuals in giving birth and implementing population policies and laws".