Employer orders: Get Married or Get Out

[MsAmerica]

Chinese Company to Single Workers: Get Married or Get Out
As China’s government worries about the falling birthrate, some private employers have ordered workers to do their part, or else.
By Vivian Wang

The ideal worker at the Chinese chemical manufacturer, according to the internal memo, is hardworking, virtuous and loyal. And — perhaps most important — willing to have children for the good of the country.

That was the message that the company, Shandong Shuntian Chemical Group, sent to unmarried employees recently, in a notice that spread widely on social media. It instructed them to start families by Sept. 30, or else.

“If you cannot get married and start a family within three quarters, the company will terminate your labor contract,” the memo said.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/04/world/asia/china-marriage-companies-childbirth.html

Lol. He could even work the day before

Here are some links, if you're curious. I don't think anyone has ever asked him if he would equally punish a woman who can't bear children, or whose child has died.

JD Vance's Put-Downs of Childless Americans
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/here-are-all-of-jd-vances-put-downs-of-childless-americans_n_66a93368e4b0e33a3bb855ac

JD Vance really, truly believes childless women are 'valueless'
https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/jd-vance-really-truly-believes-childless-women-are-valueless-2185503417388

If men were told they couldn't vote if they don't support their kids, a few things would happen.

1. more men would pay up
2. more women would be prepared to have more children
3. women would have more political influence and power.

Someone should ask him what he thinks of childless men.

All of this.

I'd argue that any man who provably sires a child that he does not financially support should be denied the vote, have his passport confiscated, have his property other than his own home sold and the resulting funds placed in escrow, and be barred for applying for any form of credit.

Blessed be the fruit.

China has a difficult problem. They brought in the one child policy because they were worried about feeding their population. But the result is that people of childbearing age don’t have a culture of having siblings or aunts / uncles. So the government asking people to have more children isn’t going to result in an immediate increase in births - having two or three children is now a bit weird (in the same way that having eight is weird to me).

Can someone explain to me why governments are suddenly panicking about falling birth rates? 5 minutes ago we had roo many people on the planet and overpopulation was a thing. Wouldn't less people, or even just an end to the previous exponential.growth, be better environmentally and allow them to meet all their net zero etc targets more easily?

Painful for a couple of generations with too many old people and difficulty in staffing the old people's homes, but then would balance out wouldnt it?

I've thought the same, and doubtless plenty have too, sunbum. To me, it just seems like a big Ponzi scheme: governments need more workers cos they need the tax receipts to pay for the pensions of an ageing population, but where are all the jobs for these extra people to do, and if the government ends up just 'creating' jobs, that costs money too. Meanwhile, on a planet with finite resources, the mantra of "more growth" is a dubious one anyway. But people don't even ask the likes of Starmer about that any more.

"Sir Keir, in the modern world, do you believe continual long-term economic growth is feasible?"

It's a fair question.

The problem that a government has is that a population with loads of old people (particularly when they are paid an old age pension) starts to feel unbalanced and can lead to civil unrest.

A while ago there was some discussion of increasing the pension age of women in China (it was much lower than in the UK). It caused a lot of upset because there’s an expectation that “old” people will be looked after. Realistically, either the government increases the pension age or it increases the number of people of working age.

www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-68595450.amp

Sorry, but I disagree. Voting shouldn't be tied to money.

By the way, why would you want women to be "prepared to have more children"? Statistics tend to indicate that when women are more educated, they don't want more children.

But do you think that also maybe it dawned on parents that life might be easier by not having two or three times the burden of a single child?

Spot on

I don't think voting should be tied to money too. But I do think that having children should be linked to taking responsibility for them and there's not much that is going to force that.

I think the issue is how fast and far they've fallen. It's economic disaster when you have such a high ratio of old people (who need health care, pensions) to young people (providing the health care and tax revenue.

It might technically be a temporary problem eg 2-3 generations, but in the meantime the economy will have tanked and standard of living fall significantly, which no one wants.

Just to be clear I really don't agree with the bonkers incentives listed on this thread by the chinese company and American politicians etc.

I do think the very low birth rate is a real problem though.

I think the solution needs to be investment in subsidised childcare, paid paternity leave, more generous maternity pay, and other measures.

Somewhat controversial but I think there should be tax breaks for middle to higher earning people with children (as well as benefits for poorer people with children). Because the birth rate is lower in that demographic

I’ve spoken to people born during the single child policy era. They described feeling responsible for their elders, grandparents as well as ageing parents, and flattened by an all-consuming work culture. They didn’t feel able to shoulder more responsibility by adding spouses and children to the mix.

I also think there's a cultural problem in the uk with small children being seen as irritating in public. I don't know how that can be changed though.

In some other countries, like in some of europe and elsewhere, small children and their antics are seen as delightful and adorable, whether that's in a restaurant or shop or whatever.

However, those countries have falling birth rates too, so maybe that has no effect.

You’re right, and the unprecedentedly massive human population is what’s fuelling climate change and pushing other species into extinction. But ‘growth at all costs’ is an easier answer. So that’s what politicians push for.

They put pressure on women because due to selective pregnancies, there are a lot more men than women (same problem as in India).

Funny thing is that there are millions of unregistered people living in China. The one-child rule was strictly applied in cities but less so in the countryside because farmers need hands to work on the farm and want a son to inherit and there is less control from the authorities. So if the first child was a girl or if a second pregnancy happened, you just didn’t declare the birth officially and everyone would be looking away.

These poor people have no birth certificate, official existence, cannot leave their village, attend official school or receive public healthcare. One day I visited a school in Shandong that « didn’t exist », it was an unofficial private school for unregistered kids.

I suspect a real push back on female education - not least because young women often outperform in formal examinations. There are areas of education where ‘additional’ tests based on ‘other’ skills are being introduced. I often wonder why but then I’m cynical because I’ve lived long enough to be! Educated females are indeed a threat.

I also think there's a cultural problem in the uk with small children being seen as irritating in public. I don't know how that can be changed though

Yes, maybe, but it's an old refrain: back in the 50s, people were saying, ah, the British don't like kids like the Italians do!

I think people are a bit naive/idealistic when they say things like, but the world is overpopulated, it's good for climate change etc.

We are hugely privileged to have the public services that we have. The reality is that if uk birth rates continue to fall, the short-medium term outcomes will be:

• Ever rocketing nhs waiting lists, including for dentists etc
• failing local council services like bins, roads, libraries etc as they are necessarily lower priority than caring for dying old people
• cuts in provisions and services for retirees, like the winter fuel payments, as there is just not enough money for the many retirees
• much older pension age, with no correlating increase in life expectancy
• as the country becomes poorer, we'll get less young people immigrating here from poor countries to fill our employment gaps, so worsening staffing crises in health care, skilled trades, etc.

And probably many more issues that I can't think of, many of which are already happening. We take these services hugely for granted.

All of this would/will happen, with a negligible impact on climate change.

All of this would/will happen, with a negligible impact on climate change.

If, as you say, the birth rate is falling elsewhere as well, then it will be good for climate change.