The National Business Daily estimated that China’s fertility rate will hit a record figure of 1.09 in 2022. Such an amount will worry officials as they take measures to reverse the falling new births trend, which has been reported at 0.8 per cent, the country now having one of the lowest fertility rates among countries that have population more than 100 million and stands alongside other countries of low fertility such as South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

The country’s first population decline in 60 years and its rapidly ageing demographic have spurred urgent measures from Beijing to boost birth rates. In May, President Xi Jinping said that improving population quality requires education, science and technology. To maintain a “moderate fertility” level that supports future economic growth, he said. But even with attempts like trying to get more women into STEM careers, challenges like sky-high childcare costs and gender stereotypes still keep them from having more kids.

Paternity leave remains puny in many provinces - just 3 months - while traditional expectations of motherly caregiving roles persist on the parental sideline. There has been a big rise in childless women in Hong Kong, which the Family Planning Association said had seen a doubling over five years as there was now 43.2 percent of the region being childless—a drop from 48 percent previously. Couples with one or two children also declined, adding to the fall in average number of children per woman from 1.3 last year to a new low of 0.9 this year according to its survey population and census statistics released the previous month.