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. 2022 Sep 15;12(9):335.
doi: 10.3390/bs12090335.

The Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Fertility Intentions of Women with Childbearing Age in China

Tinggui Chen  1   2 , Peixin Hou  1 , Tiantian Wu  1 , Jianjun Yang  3
Affiliations

The Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Fertility Intentions of Women with Childbearing Age in China

Tinggui Chen et al. Behav Sci (Basel). .

Abstract

On 31 May 2021, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed the policy that a couple can have three children, and rolled out more supportive measures to further optimize the fertility policies. However, while the Chinese government is further optimizing its fertility policy, the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 is raging around the world, which threatens the implementation of China's fertility optimization policy. Based on this, this paper firstly explores the impact of COVID-19 on women's fertility intentions. Secondly, based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, this paper constructs a structural equation model to quantitatively reveal the specific factors that affect women's fertility intentions under the epidemic, as well as their impact paths, and then puts forward corresponding suggestions for the government to solve the problem of fertility, aiming at delaying population aging and optimizing population structure. The research results show that: (1) COVID-19 lowers the fertility intentions of women of childbearing age. (2) During the pandemic, economic pressure emerged as the biggest factor affecting women's fertility intentions. The decline in income caused by the pandemic has become an important factor in preventing women from having children. (3) The conflict between work and childbearing is still an important factor affecting the fertility intentions of women of childbearing age. The government's provision of perfect childcare services and their strengthening of the protection of women's employment rights and interests will greatly reduce women's anxiety about childbearing.

Keywords: COVID-19; SEM; TPB; fertility intentions.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Variable interpretation plot.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A map of changes in the fertility intentions of women of childbearing age affected by COVID-19.
Figure 3
Figure 3
A conceptual model diagram.
Figure 4
Figure 4
A theoretical model of fertility willingness of women of childbearing age.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Standardized structural equation model diagram.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Structural equation model of fertility intentions in women of childbearing age.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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