In view of the current situation of fertility in rural areas, the old farmers took the rural areas of the Handan Plain as an example to observe. He found that among the rural couples born in the 90s, the majority had three children, and fewer had four children. This may be due to the fear of being financially burdened, so there are very few couples who have only two children. Although the family planning policy has been relaxed, even in the late 90s of the 20th century, when the family planning policy was loosened, many couples had three children. This phenomenon may be related to the belief of rural people in the concept of "more children, more blessings".
The old farmer pointed out that in the current situation of rural fertility, many post-90s couples are more inclined to have three children. For example, if the first two children are boys, they will usually want to have another girl; If the first two children are girls, they prefer to have a boy; Couples who already have a man and a woman feel that their children should have a companion, so the proportion of having three children is higher.
One of the main reasons for the decline in rural fertility is the increase in the proportion of males. The old farmer pointed out that this is due to the strict family planning policy that began to be implemented in the 90s of the last century, and couples can only have one child, and the birth of a second child requires birth control. At that time, advertisements on the walls of rural areas read: "If you want to be rich, have fewer children and plant more trees", "I would rather have a broken family than let the country die", "One child is in the ring, and the second child is sterilized" and other slogans to encourage birth control. Under the restrictions of strict family planning policies, some super-born households had to flee their villages, and even their houses were demolished. The old peasants questioned whether this extreme family planning policy came from the infiltration of ** forces. In addition, the patriarchal mentality coupled with the development of ultrasound technology led to the forced abortion or abortion of many female babies in that era in order to pass on the lineage. How will this history be recorded 100 years from now?
As for the current decline in the rural fertility rate, the old peasants believe that it is the result of the high proportion of rural males. Although the family planning policy has been liberalized, the number of births in rural areas is still on a downward trend. Perhaps this is the evil result of our strict family planning policy 30 years ago.
The old peasants believe that in order to encourage rural births, it is first necessary to revitalize rural education. In the process of urbanization, county towns have attracted excellent teachers from rural primary and secondary schools, leading to the decline of rural schools. Even if farmers send their children to school in the county seat, they need to buy houses in the county seat, which also adds a lot of economic pressure to the farmers. The old farmer gave an example of how inhumane it is for some parents to work in other places for many years, while grandparents accompany their grandchildren to rent a house in the county seat to study in primary school. In the past, every village in the countryside had a primary school, but now? We are going backwards in history. In the era of peace, the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation will be realized. Education is our common identity and goal. However, we have commercialized education and made it a profitable industry. Urbanization has not only exhausted the financial resources of the peasants, but also the educational resources of the rural areas. Therefore, the old peasants believe that in order to increase the fertility rate in rural areas, it is necessary to revitalize rural primary and secondary education, and achieve the goal of having a primary school in every village and a middle school in every township. Outstanding teacher training graduates can volunteer to teach in rural areas and receive higher salaries than county teachers, and in the village where they teach, they can also get a homestead land. As long as the policy can attract excellent teachers to teach in rural areas, rural education can be improved, and there is no longer a need to spend a lot of money on flip classrooms. When the level of rural education improves, the fertility rate in rural areas will naturally increase.
Summary: The decline of rural fertility has had a certain impact on rural society and national development. In order to encourage rural births, we must attach importance to the revitalization of rural education. High-quality educational resources and teachers are important factors in increasing fertility. Only when the level of education in rural areas is improved and the economic pressure on peasants is reduced can rural residents be more willing to have children. Therefore, we should work together with all sectors of society to strengthen primary and secondary education in rural areas, so that every village has a primary school and a township has a middle school, so as to create a good environment for rural development and the improvement of fertility rate.