Government takes action China will soon have more pets than children

Eight years ago, China abolished the one-child law. However, the economy and external factors are tempting young couples not to start a family, but to have a dog and a cat.

Hansen and his wife Momo have been married for seven years and look after six small children in their apartment in downtown Beijing. But they have a slightly different parenting routine to the typical mother and father: they play catch with them and take them for daily walks.

The little ones are not their children, but "fur babies" or "mao hai zi" in Chinese, and the couple love them so much that they refer to them as "our daughters, our sons". They mean their dogs. "They are all part of our family. We are one big family," said Momo. That's her nickname because she feared getting in trouble with the authorities if she spoke openly about her lifestyle - a lifestyle that is at odds with China's efforts to increase the birthrate, according to CNN.

China is grappling with a rapidly aging population and a shrinking labor force after decades of enforcing a one-child policy.

Soon there will be more pets in China than children

According to a study by the Beijing-based YuWa Population Research Institute earlier this year, the country is also one of the most expensive places in the world to raise a child. This puts China just ahead of Australia and France. Following the abolition of the one-child policy in 2016 and another major change to the birth policy in 2021, the government now wants couples to have three children.

But Beijing has not been so successful in increasing the birth rate. According to a July research report by investment bank Goldman Sachs, which looked at the rising demand for pet food, the number of pets in China's cities is expected to exceed the number of children under the age of four by the end of the year.

By 2030, the number of pets in urban China alone will be almost double the number of young children in the country as a whole, according to the forecast. The number of pet owners would be even higher if the number of dogs and cats in rural areas were included.

This is because in uncertain economic times, Chinese people do not want to worry about family planning. The cost of having a child in China is extremely high. That is why society is turning to pets.

Pet boarding facilities are fully booked in China

By predicting an increase in sales of dog and cat food, Goldman Sachs uncovered a trend that is causing the Chinese authorities a major headache. In 2022, the country's population fell for the first time in decades.

Tao runs Space, a dog boarding kennel in Beijing. For her, the fondness for pets means good business. With China's National Day just around the corner, dog owners are desperately looking for someone to look after their four-legged friends during the peak travel season, which begins on October 1.

"We were almost fully booked for this holiday," she said. Tao, who also only gives her nickname, has two dogs and no children. She said her family always pushed her to have children, but she knew that wasn't the life she wanted.

"I enjoy my lifestyle. My partner and I will be traveling a lot. I like to see the world. The idea of having children just wasn't attractive enough for me," she said.

The mentality has changed

"I feel like people are saying, 'This is what I want' or 'This is what I want for my life' rather than 'This is what society has taught me' or 'This is what my parents want me to do'," Tao added.

Stuart Gietel-Basten, professor of social science and public policy at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said having children and pets are not mutually exclusive in China. However, young couples face growing challenges ranging from unemployment to social pressures, such as long working hours and the expectation that some women will give up their careers after having a child, he said.

"When you're in your early 20s in China and have a strong need to take care of yourself, it's much easier to get a puppy, kitten or rabbit than to find a partner you want to marry and have children with," says Gietel-Basten.

Hansen and Momo simply enjoy the company of their fur babies. "We don't follow any trends. We don't let them influence us. It's our own decision. I think we just love dogs," Hansen said. He said he looks forward to coming home every day because his dogs are so excited to see him.

At a women's conference last year, China's leader Xi Jinping gave a speech to delegates about promoting a new kind of marriage and family culture. The message to Chinese women was clear: get married and have children. But Momo thinks the country needs to get by without her genes. "I have the feeling that China doesn't miss this one child of mine," she says.