Vietnam abolished a longstanding policy limiting families to having no more than two children as the nation grapples with a declining birth rate – posing a demographic crunch that could undermine future growth prospects.
Under the new regulation approved by the National Assembly Standing Committee in Hanoi on June 3, couples will now have the right to decide when to have children, how many to have, and the spacing between births, the official Vietnam News Agency reported.
The previous law allowed only one or two children per family, except in special cases.
In practice, it was rarely enforced for non-members of the Communist Party of Vietnam.
For party members who broke the law, the penalty could be a warning, reduced bonus, or dismissal from their position.
The restriction was introduced in 1988, when the total fertility rate was over four births per woman.
The nation’s birth rate sank to a record low last December, with the total fertility rate falling to 1.91 children per woman, marking the third consecutive year it has dropped below the replacement level.
In 2024, the Health Ministry proposed amending the law to allow each couple and single parent to decide how many children to have and the interval between births.
“Vietnam is in the period of population ageing,” according to the UN Population Fund.
It said the process is “progressing rapidly”, and that the transition from an “ageing” to an “aged” population will occur within just 20 years. BLOOMBERG
