Women in China have described receiving unexpected phone calls from government officials asking if they are considering pregnancy – a move believed to be part of a wider stimulus package by the Chinese government to boost the birth rate .
Chinese women have described receiving unusual phone calls from alleged government officials, asking for information about family planning and pregnancy.
A Xiaohongshu user, whose username is Guo Guo, said she received a call that was uncomfortably personal and intrusive. The working mother of two said she had been asked when she would have a third child.
Although she was disappointed, she replied that she “just didn’t have time” because she was busy with work. To which the caller replied: “You can be pregnant before. If your sister-in-law cannot take care (of your children), you can ask your mother.”
“Fertility control calls” were also a trending topic on microblogging site Sina Weibo, with users questioning the legitimacy of such calls and debating whether women should be asked such invasive and private questions.
“Things are getting desperate,” one Weibo user wrote in a comment that drew hundreds of likes. “I don’t see how effective this type of questioning will be in the long run. How will this contribute to the population figures?”
“This is even weirder than the scam calls,” said another user. According to an October 28 report by the South China Morning Post, local government officials are calling women across the country as part of a “vigorous campaign organized by county administrative networks.”
“The central government also hopes to understand why so many women are reluctant to have more children and develop new policy options,” the report said.
According to Caixin Global, a media group based in Beijing, the workers will record and collect information such as marriage and birth statistics, which will then be fed into a central monitoring system.
