China, it’s time for ‘the talk’: sex education urged for children as adults balk at babies
Years after Beijing called for ‘age-appropriate sex education for minors’, a national curriculum remains absent as China’s demographic crisis worsens
To reverse a worrisome trend of deaths outpacing births in China, central authorities are being urged to look beyond merely trying to convince adults to procreate – the attention, leaders are now being told, should be on educating children.
A top political adviser and leading demographer has proposed that China take action to protect fertility from the earliest stages of a person’s development, by making sexual-health education mandatory for school kids amid a demographic crisis that has far-reaching social and economic ramifications.
Her call came as the central government said it was planning to subsidise families with children later this year – the first pledge of the kind at the national level, despite subsidies being offered by many local governments in recent years.
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Chinese cities offer cash and other incentives to boost marriage registrations
He, who is also a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, said taking more steps to safeguard the population’s fertility will “directly affect the final number of children a couple has”.