From Bangkok Post

Thailand has become an aged society and will become a "super-aged" society by 2031 when 28% of the population will be 60 or older. The country has witnessed a low birth rate for several decades, but it was not until last year that more deaths than births were recorded. In 2021, deaths outnumbered births at 563,650 versus 544,570.

Experts are alarmed by the low birth rate and have suggested the government needs a policy to promote a higher fertility rate, but many people are unfussed. With unemployment among new graduates expected to rise in the Covid-battered economy, some say it is probably better off this way.

"It's a good trend, isn't it? People are struggling to make a living and the jobless are everywhere," said a resident in Bangkok when asked about the low birth rate.

he experts' warning about a shrinking workforce and growing retirees in the next 10 years as a result of below-replacement-level fertility is not as pressing as the bills due at month's end.

"The low birth rate, society is full of retirees. Where will we find the young to drive the economy? Well, we can leave it to the future," said another Bangkok resident.

However, demographers and economists stress the issue should not be framed as a concern for the future and insist policy-makers must start planning now to reverse the trend or the country could end up in trouble.

Pramote Prasartkul, a demography professor at the Institute for Population and Social Research at Mahidol University, said the current demographic situation is a stark contrast to the one during 1963-1983, when about 1 million babies were born each year.

"We call it a population 'tsunami'. It is a powerful wave that makes tremendous impacts. The more than one million who were born in 1963 are entering retirement age next year," he said.

Saowaruj Rattanakhamfu, a research director at the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI), said an ageing society creates opportunities to develop goods and services to meet the demands of the elderly.

''Thailand has entered an ageing society earlier than most countries in Asean, so it should seize the opportunity to develop new goods and services," she said.

In the next 10 years the number of elderly in Asean and China will grow; the elderly population in Asean will reach 70 million while that in China will be 200 million, she said.

"The issue is challenging. But society has relaxed with same-sex marriages," Dr Bunyarit said. "If the law is more relaxed, they could have their own children."

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/special-reports/2259507/when-baby-well-runs-dry

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China's pet economy booms as more millennials delay marriage and kids for fur babies

HONG KONG: He Qi, an English teacher from Guangzhou city, divorced last month. He and his ex-wife split their properties quickly and amicably, but could not escape a big quarrel over their two dearest possessions - the pet dogs.

"They are my children and I would be very sad no matter which one left me," the 36-year-old said.

In the end, they decided to take one each.

"I think I will get another small dog or cat soon, I don't want my 'son' to feel lonely, and I think my ex-wife will very likely feel the same way," He said.

A growing number of young Chinese are choosing to marry later, delay parenthood, or simply abandon both altogether, due to rising living costs and the demands of work life.

At the same time, many of them are choosing to raise cats or dogs, creating a thriving pet economy that is bucking a stubborn trend of weak consumer sentiment in the world's No. 2 economy.

Jack Bian, the founder of Hangzhou-based Lang Xiao Zhua, which translates to Waves and Paws, a popular social media platform for pet lovers, said as more young Chinese opt to live with pets it could "delay plans for giving birth".

'We've woken up': young Chinese 'lie flat' as protest against life's grind

"Young people in China are currently marrying and having children at a later age. The general consensus in their 20s and 30s is that stress and the cost of living is high, and working hours very long," said Bian, whose organisation has more than 30,000 members.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2259639/chinas-pet-economy-booms-as-more-millennials-delay-marriage-and-kids-for-fur-babies

Every time I hear we need a higher birth rate, I think of the growth of human population and wonder where we will put them all.  

We're already near the carrying capacity of planet Earth with clean air and water harder to come by as our population grows.  Is this really the time to add another billion or two humans to the draw?

Sounds like the main argument in favor of a growing population is increasing the ratio of more-productive to less-productive humans and, looking at that metric alone, one could make a case for higher birth rates.  But, as long as we continue to deplete the planet's resources at the current rate, we'll all hit the wall in the foreseeable future.

 

It could be that countries willing and able to redistribute income equitably among their citizens (shades of socialism! 😳) will find a way to grow modestly and still make sure young and old all have enough to get by.

But unrestrained economic growth, combined with institutionalized inequality and finite natural resources, doesn't seem to bode well for any of the less economically productive members of society.

Of which I count myself a proud, if endangered, example.