Japan-based English-language daily; specifically highlights Vietnam's demographic challenge compared to Japan's own experience
By lens · 1 takes across the edition
Japan Times · Japan · Vietnam scraps its 50-year two-child rule and launches a baby bonus as the birth rate falls to 1.93
Japan Times draws the parallel between Vietnam's demographic inflection and Japan's own trajectory from the 1990s: both countries risk getting 'old before rich,' a structural trap Vietnam is trying to prevent with the new incentives. GDP per capita in Vietnam is around US$5,000, well below Japan's when its fertility decline became entrenched. The article flags that previous government campaigns to raise the birth rate in major southern cities such as Ho Chi Minh City have consistently failed, and questions whether cash incentives will work.
“Vietnam's concern is that it gets old before it gets rich; GDP per capita is around US$5,000, far below Japan's when its own fertility decline became entrenched.”