Raising Retirement Age Impacts Childbirth Decisions

China faces a critical challenge with its pension system, projected to deplete by 2035, necessitating an increase in the retirement age and working years, which are among the lowest globally. This raises several issues, particularly affecting childcare. Most families depend on grandparents for childcare, with less than 8% of toddlers in nurseries and up to 80% of households in urban areas relying on grandparents. Extending the workforce participation of these grandparents may lead to couples delaying having children or opting out of parenthood entirely, further exacerbating the already low fertility rate of 1.1, indicating that many women are having fewer children or none at all.