When Zhang Chengying first told her parents that she and her husband would not be having children, their reaction was one of shock. They asked Zhang if there was something wrong with her.
However, the 32-year-old explained that nothing was wrong. They simply wanted to be a DINK couple – double income, no kids. Although they are momentarily two incomes shy of that goal, they expect it to change soon. In the meantime, they enjoy their downtime by embarking on a 5,499km road trip.
Zhang recently graduated from a medical university in Shandong province with a doctorate in pharmacy and is waiting for a scientific research position to open up at a hospital later this year. Her husband will start work at a public institution in two weeks. For now, they are relishing in staying up late, sleeping in, and not worrying about kids.
On Thursday, the couple set off on a carefully mapped-out 59-hour and three-minute road trip that will take them through three Chinese provinces.
“I definitely wouldn’t be able to be this carefree if I had a child,” Zhang said. “Due to their parental responsibilities, a few of my friends rarely have the time to go out and meet up with me.”
China’s birth rate hit a record low last year as deaths outnumbered births in the country for the first time in more than six decades.
“We think we are becoming more self-aware, while our parents think we are becoming more selfish,” said Yang Xiaotong, 26, who is self-employed in Shenzhen. She and her husband, who wed in April, said three years under pandemic controls had a lot of influence over their thinking. In addition to developing an aversion to having children, they began reflecting on life’s true meaning.
“[I realized that] I want to see the whole world rather than be confined by my children to an 80-square-meter apartment in Shenzhen,” said Yang, whose travel ambitions mirror Zhang’s and many others. “Many young people are more focused on improving the quality of their own lives now, because we cherish the time we have on this planet.”
Yang said she faces enough pressure from building her own business. And while she has some friends with kids, she has several who are content being DINKs, and others who do not even want to get married.
Ren Yuan, a professor with the Institute of Population Research at Fudan University, said this type of sentiment is poised to have a long-lasting impact on the country.
“Considering the declining marriage rate, and the rising percentage of people who never get married, China will very likely see its low fertility rate remain low in the coming decades,” Ren said.
At the same time, the rising costs of having children – coupled with the current economic doldrums in which more than 1 out of 5 young adults are unemployed – mean more couples find themselves unable to afford children.
“To be honest, after deducting rent, utilities and living expenses, there is not much money left from my 5,000-yuan (US$700) monthly salary,” said Qu Yun, a 24-year-old nurse based in Shandong province. She said the main reason she doesn’t want children is her lack of money and time – she works more than 12 hours a day and does not even have time for lunch, much less a kid.
Even Zhang, who has an advanced educational certification that will result in a relatively higher-paying job, still worries about being able to adequately provide for children. She looks at what relatives are spending, especially on tutoring, to give their kids a leg up in such a contentious economy.
“Education costs are so high, and I don’t want my child born into such an exhausting environment,” Zhang said.
Meanwhile, mental health issues are on the rise, including among young people coming of age in a time of pandemic isolationism, and the idea of bringing a child into the mix can seem daunting.
Simultaneously dealing with depression “makes it even harder for us to remain patient” when children become mischievous, Yang said, noting that even interpersonal relationships with adults have become more difficult to handle.
Chen, the professor at Nankai University, said that while “child-hating” goes to the extreme, and individuals may play it up on social media, there’s no denying that China has to make society more conducive to having infants and toddlers, with the aim of “establishing a child-friendly society”.
“Young people’s desire for having children has indeed decreased, and there is a general phenomenon of fertility anxiety in China,” Chen said.
Before kicking back on her road trip through China, Zhang Chengying said, “I cannot say whether I will change my mind when I turn 40, but for now, I am very determined not to have children.”
