Women in China get phone calls from government workers asking: 'Are you pregnant now?'
Women in China share bizarre accounts of receiving random calls from government grassroot workers, asking them about plans for pregnancy – a measure said to be part of broader incentives by the Chinese government to boost birth rates.
Women in China get phone calls from government workers asking: 'Are you pregnant now?'
Women in China share bizarre accounts of receiving random calls from government grassroot workers, asking them about plans for pregnancy – a measure said to be part of broader incentives by the Chinese government to boost birth rates.
Grassroots government workers are ringing up women across China as part of state measures to address the population crisis. (Photo: iStock/seb_ra)
29 Oct 2024 05:49PM(Updated: 29 Oct 2024 06:30PM)
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SINGAPORE: “I got a call from a grassroots (worker) this morning, asking if I was pregnant,” reads a viral post on the Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu.
It was liked more than 11,000 times and received thousands of comments – and was just one out of multiple accounts describing similar experiences.
Chinese women shared that they received bizarre phone calls from supposed government workers, asking about family planning and pregnancy.
A Xiaohongshu user by the username Guo Guo, said she received a phone call which was uncomfortably personal and invasive. The working mother of two shared that she was asked when she would be conceiving a third child.
Although shocked, she still responded that she simply “did not have the time” as she was busy working. To which the caller replied: “You can get pregnant first. If your mother-in-law can’t take care of (your children), you can ask your mum.”
“Fertility call checks” was also a topic trend on the Sina Weibo microblogging site, with users questioning the legitimacy of such calls and discussing whether or not it was appropriate to be asking women such invasive and private questions.
“Things are getting desperate,” wrote a Weibo user in a comment that drew hundreds of likes. “I can’t see how effective this type of interrogation will be in the long run. How will it contribute to population numbers?”
“This is even weirder than scam calls,” another user said.
Grassroots government workers were ringing up women across the country as part of “a vigorous campaign organised by district administrative networks”, according to an Oct 28 report published by the South China Morning Post.
“The central government also hopes to learn why so many women are reluctant to have more children and devise new policy options,” the report said.
Workers would record and collect information such as marriage and childbirth statistics, which would then be entered into a central monitoring system, according to Caixin Global, a Beijing-based media group.
Residents would also be provided with birth registration services, free pregnancy tests and other reproductive services, the Caixin Global report said.
This month, China’s Population and Development Research Centre announced that it would conduct a nationwide survey to “obtain new data on views on marriage and fertility and key influencing factors”.
The survey would target women of child-bearing age, between the ages of 15 and 49, across 150 counties and would focus on understanding “actual difficulties and needs of families in birth and parenting” in the hopes of improving fertility policies and incentives.
China’s demographic picture has been looking bleak, with annual birth rates continuing to plummet to annual record lows. New births have nearly halved from about 17 million in 2014 to 9 million in 2023, according to its National Bureau of Statistics.
State measures to address the demography crisis have also been in full swing, looking to spur births and aid young couples and families while also supporting a rapidly ageing population.
China’s state council also outlined steps on Monday, calling for efforts to build "a new marriage and childbearing culture" by spreading respect for childbearing, marriages at the right age, and parents' shared responsibility for childcare.
pssst...hey are you pregnant now?
