The Economist.
While low fertility may still be a baby-sized problem across much of Asia,
in China, the issue is much further along.
For decades, China's one-child policy curbed its birth rate,
but when the rules were relaxed in 2016,
the expected baby boom never materialized.
In fact, in 2025, the average woman in China still only has one child,
well below the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population.
Fearing the impact of a rapidly aging country,
the state promised to create a birth-friendly society.
Cities and provinces introduced financial subsidies,
improved child care, and expanded maternity leave,
all in the name of getting families to have more kids.
And in the last couple of years,
a number of regional governments have introduced something else: mom jobs,
posts with flexible hours designed for women with children under the age of 12.
It's an attempt to reassure working moms that they could have kids and a career.
But rather than reassurance, the scheme has triggered a fierce backlash online.
Some saw the jobs as patronizing, others as sexist,
while some people questioned whether dad jobs would be introduced.