Thailand plans policy to boost birth rate from seven-decade low

BANGKOK: Thailand plans to amend laws to make it easier for single parents and members of the LGBTQ community to have children and offer infertility treatment through state hospitals as part of a campaign to reverse a decline in birth rate to a seven-decade low.

The Health Ministry plans to change laws to provide access to reproductive technology to young men and women who are keen to have children but have no partners, according to a statement from the government.

In March, the government will unveil other measures including setting up of birth promotion clinics at state-run hospitals to offer consultancy services and infertility treatment, Kanika Aunjit, a deputy spokesman for the government said in the statement. Hospitals will also shore up services such as intrauterine insemination and in-vitro fertilization, she said.

Thailand is seeking to arrest a steady decline in its birthrate and a shrinking population, which threaten the South-East Asian nation’s efforts to cement its position as a manufacturing powerhouse in the region. The number of newborns fell to 485,085 in 2022, the lowest in 70 years, according to official data.

Thailand’s population could shrink by half to 33 million over the next 60 years if no urgent measures are taken, according to the health ministry. That will reduce the pool of working population to about 14 million from 46 million now, creating a severe labour shortage, affect the economy, society and security of the country, it said.

Boosting child birthrate will be designated as a national agenda in March with the government also looking at options of sharing the expenses and burden of raising children, Kanika said. - Bloomberg