China faces kindergarten closures amid declining birth rates, transforming into senior care centers

Due to a steep reduction in enrollment rates brought on by a notable drop in birth rates, thousands of kindergartens have been closed throughout China.

The annual report from the Chinese Ministry of Education states that there were 2,74,400 kindergartens in China in 2023, a reduction of 14,808 from 2022.

The fact that this is the second consecutive year of declining kindergarten enrollment highlights China's declining birth rates.

According to the ministry's report, the South China Morning Post, based in Hong Kong, reported on Oct 27 that kindergarten enrollment dropped for the third consecutive year, falling by 11.55%, or 5.35 million children, to a total of 40.9 million.

Similar trends have been seen in primary schools, where enrollment fell by 3.8% in 2023.

These drops are indicative of larger demographic changes in China, where decreasing birth rates and a declining population may jeopardize future economic expansion.

In 2023, China's population dropped by more than two million to 1.4 billion, marking the second consecutive year of decline. Nine million births occurred in the nation, the fewest since records were first kept in 1949.

India has recently surpassed China as the world's most populous country.

China is currently facing a dual crisis: not only are birth and fertility rates decreasing, but the elderly population is also rapidly increasing.

According to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, approximately 300 million people will be over the age of 60 by the end of 2023, with the figure expected to exceed 400 million by 2035 and 500 million by 2050.

A growing number of kindergartens have been transformed into senior care centers. The rise in the senior population, partly influenced by the now-defunct one-child policy, has increased reliance on social security, putting additional strain on government resources as the economy slows.

Officials accuse the long-standing one-child policy, which was terminated in 2016, of contributing to China's demographic crisis.

To alleviate couples' reluctance to have more children due to high costs, the government revised the policy in 2021, allowing up to three children per household.

Last month, China increased the retirement age for office workers from 60 to 63 for men and from 55 to 58 for women in response to growing pension and elder care costs.

Despite nearly 30% of families with infants and toddlers requiring childcare services, only 5.5% have access to nurseries or pre-kindergartens, according to data from the National Health Commission from 2021.

China is seeking to make divorce more difficult while streamlining marriage laws in response to its aging and declining population.