When “Loving The Country Means Having Two Children”: Vietnam’s Bid To Boost Birth Rates

Vietnam is in a “golden population structure” phase, when the working-age population outnumbers children and the elderly. But this window will not last long.

In 2025, each Vietnamese woman gave birth to an average of 1.93 children, a slight increase from the historic low of 1.91 recorded in 2024; however, it is still below the replacement rate of 2.1. This alarming trend - often described as a declining willingness to have children- poses major challenges to the country’s socio-economic development and social security system.

To reverse the trend, the Vietnamese government has rolled out a range of policies and measures aimed at boosting birth rates. According to Mr Le Thanh Dung, Director of the Population Department under the Ministry of Health, from 2026, population efforts will be under the message: “Loving the country means having two children.”

A long history of family planning

Vietnam once recorded a historically high birth rate. In the 1960s, each Vietnamese woman had an average of 6.5 children, with the population growing at an annual rate of up to 3.8%. This was largely attributed to a household-based agricultural economy, in which families required additional labor. In Vietnam, as in much of East Asia, having many children was seen as a symbol of harmony, vitality and good fortune.

In 1961, Vietnam became one of the first Asian countries to implement a nationwide family planning program, despite severe economic hardship and at a time when the war dominated the nation.

After reunification in 1975, the country intensified its efforts to curb birth rates through a mix of incentives and penalties, alongside coercive measures such as fines and, in some cases, the dismissal of public-sector employees who exceeded the permitted number of children.

By the early 21st century, Vietnam had relaxed some of its reproductive regulations, shifting toward voluntary compliance while seeking to maintain fertility at the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. The country entered its “golden population structure” in 2007 and is expected to last until 2039.

At the same time, the average life expectancy in Vietnam rose to 73 years in 2010, up from 40 in earlier decades. In 2011, the country officially entered an ageing phase, with people aged over 60 accounting for more than 10% of the population.

After sustaining for a decade, the birth rate then saw a decline. From just above the replacement rate of 2.11 in 2021, Vietnam’s birth rate declined gradually and reached 1.95 children per woman in 2025. In big cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, the birth rate drops even lower, to 1.54 children per woman, far behind the national rate

A law aims for reversing birth rate

On December 10, 2025, the National Assembly passed the new Population Law with 99.55% agreement. Set to take effect on July 1, 2026, the Law scrapped the old birth control framework and introduced the new policies, which aim to boost birth rates and deal with the ageing population. Some of the key features included

• Allow couples to decide their own number of children, instead of a limit of 2. This will also be applied to public-sector employees. Previously, Communist Party members who had a third child could face disciplinary measures or have bonuses and promotion opportunities restricted. Since March 2025, such penalties have been removed under revised regulations.
• Seven months of maternity leave (an increase of one month) for women give birth to a second child; male workers are granted 10 working days of paternity leave.
• Priority in buying social housing for families with two children
• Financial support for childbirth for women in cities with low birth rates, women in underdeveloped areas, or of minor ethnic groups.
• Sex selection is strictly prohibited; doctors who reveal a fetus’s sex during pregnancy will face revocation of their license
• Greater emphasis on elder care: develop a workforce on elder care, building more care facilities…to adapt to an ageing population.

In some localities, the financial support has already been applied. Ho Chi Minh City has announced to give VND 5 million in cash (around US $191) to women who are under 35 years old and give birth to a second child, from September 2025.

Structural and social factors outweigh policy reform

Vietnam is not the only country in the world that has to cope with the decline in birth rate. In fact, South Korea, Japan, and even China - the once highest-populated country in the world - are also facing the same problem.

Since 2021, China has rolled out a range of policies, financial support and incentives aimed at boosting birth rates. More recently, in December 2025, this country announced plans to impose additional taxes on contraceptives as part of its efforts to encourage childbearing. Meanwhile, Japan has also invested heavily - around $25 billion annually - in attempts to stem its steadily declining birth rate.

Despite those efforts, the birth rate in these two countries is not improving. China has become one of the countries with the lowest birth rate in the world, with only 1.01 children per woman. While Japan can only see 670,000 children were born in 2025, the lowest since 1899.

These experiences suggest that financial support and policy adjustments alone are insufficient to boost the declining birth rates. Governments often focus on economic pressures and housing costs, which are legitimate, as an increasing number of young people are unable to afford homeownership. However, these factors do not fully explain the reluctance to have children.

According to Dr Nguyen Dinh Cu, former Director of the Institute of Population and Social Studies at the National Economics University, low fertility is largely driven by structural and social factors.

As societies develop, the cost of raising children increases not only in material terms but also in expectations. Parents increasingly view child-rearing as “expensive” or “very expensive,” while fears about children’s future—education quality, employment prospects, and social mobility—often weigh even more heavily than financial costs.

At the same time, many parents prioritize economic stability, educational attainment, and career advancement. Having fewer children allows families to concentrate resources and invest more intensively in each child’s development.

Dr Nguyen Dinh Cu also noted on Lao Dong that improvements in healthcare have also reduced child mortality rates significantly, eliminating the perceived need to have “extra” children as a form of insurance, a factor that historically contributed to higher fertility rates.

Furthermore, despite progress toward gender equality, childcare responsibilities continue to fall disproportionately on women. Cultural expectations surrounding pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing place a heavy burden on mothers, leading many families- particularly urban and educated couples - to opt for fewer children.

Looking at history, Vietnam has consistently demonstrated persistence and decisiveness in its population policies. With the new Population Law set to take effect in 2026, alongside the slogan “Loving the country means having two children,” Vietnam is signaling strong determination to boost its declining birth rate and a clear unwillingness to back down.

Yet reality suggests that boosting birth rate requires more than policy adjustments alone; it demands broader structural reforms. Whether Vietnam can adapt and sustain this long-term battle, and ultimately emerge as a country that successfully confronts this population issue, remains a question only time can answer.