Chinese population steadily declining
SMALL FAMILY: Late marriage and career-minded women are factors
THE Chinese population in the country is on a steady decline, with statistics showing the community’s total fertility rate (TFR) at an average of only 1.4 children per woman.
The TFR for Chinese was 1.9 in 2005.
Statistics Department deputy director of population and demographic statistics Ahmad Jessree Kamaruddin told the New Straits Times that the fertility rate of all ethnic groups had been on the decline since the past decade, but it was more apparent among Chinese.
“The fertility rate of the Chinese community dropped from 4.7 children for every woman in 1970 to only 1.4 children for every woman in 2014.”
By comparison, in 1970, the TFR for Malays was 5 and Indians (4.8). These figures dropped to 2.7 and 1.4 in 2014, respectively. The national TFR stands at 2.
“People getting married later in life and the increasing number of highly-educated and career-minded women are among the reasons for the decline.”
Ahmad said getting married later in life was a barrier to Chinese women having children.
“Getting married at a later age will take away vital years in women’s
of the Chinese community reproductive period, which is between the ages of 15 and 48.”
The 2010 Population and Housing Census found that the average age of a Chinese woman getting married was 27, compared with Malay (25.4), Indian (26.1) and other races (25).
Ahmad added: “With more Chinese women continuing their education to higher levels and having better job prospects, they will delay marriage and, subsequently, having children.
“They also tend to limit the number of children they bear because of work demands.”
He said the focus on careers was seen by Chinese couples as crucial to increasing their quality of life.
In 2010, there were 945,685 Chinese women between the ages of 15 and 49 in the workforce, of which 257,332 had tertiary education.
The number of Chinese women with higher edu- cation has been rising steadily, from 123,065 in 1991 to 203,708 in 2000. The trend is likely to continue.
But Ahmad said the Chinese population would continue to grow, albeit at a slower rate, until 2040.
“The group will remain the second largest ethnic group in the country. This is due to the population momentum in the community.”
Population momentum refers to population growth that will occur regardless of the drop in TFR, meaning that existing parents and their one or two children will guarantee future births.
Fertility experts agreed that the declining Chinese population could be due to the community’s preference for having children later in life.
Fertility specialist Dr Agilan Arjunan said the issue should be addressed as soon as possible.
“On average, Chinese patients who seek fertility treatment are between 36 and 40 years old. In most cases, the couple are well educated and have stable careers. Financially, they are ready to start a family, but time is not on their side,” he told the New Straits Times.
Dr Agilan said the Chinese couples who went to him for fertility treatment had planned to have only one child.
He attributed the low TFR of the Chinese community to economic pressure, resulting in a delay in starting a family, more women having successful careers and increasing male infertility.
“When the TFR is low, it means that the replacement rate, which is the birth versus death rate, is lower than what it should be. The ideal replacement rate should be 2 (two children per woman).
“However, the replacement rate is only 1.4. In the long term, the Chinese population will shrink.”
Dr Agilan, who has more than a decade of experience in fertility treatment, said pregnancies at a later stage in life had higher risks of miscarriage, delivering babies with malformations and difficult labour, and could lead to death.
“Couples should start trying to have a baby before the age of 35.”
Another fertility expert, Dr R.M. Udayar Pandian, said most ethnic groups in the country preferred to have fewer children, and not just the Chinese community.
“With fewer children, parents can give more attention to each of them.”