Page 84 - IJPS-11-3

International Journal of
Population Studies Low fertility intentions in China

Table 3. Major themes of low fertility intentions emerged from open and axial coding of Weibo threads
Example of threads Open coding Axial coding
I can’t afford to raise more children. A01: Financial strain A: Unmet preconditions
Don’t have a child and put them through suffering. Even though I started to consider A02: Housing unaffordability
having a second child, the cost of housing discouraged me, forget it.
I want to have two children, a son, and a daughter. The problem is I’m still looking for my A03: Being unmarried
Mr. Right.
Giving birth is straightforward, but raising and nurturing a child is not, you need to be rich, A04: Insecurity in education
educated and even good at handicrafts… the true misery will begin once the school year
begins because as the school begins to reduce the childcaring burden, the family burden
increases.
It's difficult to get medical treatment. A05: Medically uninsured
There is no trace of the first child, let alone the second child. A06: Pursuing firstborn
I feel like my genes are not so good that I must have a child to inherit them. A07: Genetic dissatisfaction
Why say goodbye to being single?? Being single is happy, thus remaining single can always B01: Preference for singlehood B: Individualistic values
be happy. orientation
Haven’t played enough games, or read enough novels, movies, and gossip. Still, I’d like to B02: Hedonism
travel and see the scenery around the world.
When I’m single, I never expect anyone to come to see me. I’m free and at ease. But if I had B03: Longing for freedom
a child, he would grow up and go off to live his own life, leaving me back alone but still
hoping he would return to see me. Once you’ve a child, you’ll be lingering with worry, you
can no longer be carefree or unrestrained. If this is the case for having one child, why suffer
twice?
Wanted to be beautiful, to be hot, to be in good shape! In addition, you must work on your B04: Prioritizing
personal development. self-improvement
Fewer births, better births, and happier lives. C: “One‑and‑done”
parenting
Forget about the second child, I’ve no intention of even one child. D: Voluntary childlessness
I’m going insane just to tutor my only child with homework. E: Burden of childcare
Note: The major themes of this study are denoted by bold terms.

2001), hedonism (Schwartz, 1994), personal freedom the analysis underscores key drivers shaping fertility
(Sampson, 1977), and personal autonomy (Kagitcibasi, preferences, it was observed that individuals were nearly
2005). This concept is often contrasted with collectivism evenly divided in their intentions, with approximately half
which focuses on group harmony (Hui & Triandis, 1986), expressing a preference to have only one child and the other
cooperation (Sinha & Verma, 1987), and shared goals half indicating a desire to rather remain childless. This
(Triandis, 1994). Through the lens of Hofstede’s (2001) qualitative insight complements the thematic findings by
interpretation of individualism, our analysis was able providing an estimation of family compositions reflective
to identify factors that resembled individualistic values. of these fertility intentions. Together, these results offer
These factors fit within the axial code of Individualistic a nuanced understanding of China’s declining fertility
values orientation. trends.
The third to fifth themes were open codes that were 3.1. Unmet preconditions significantly determine
found to constitute themes that justified their reporting low fertility intentions
in this study – “One-and-done” parenting, conscious The analysis showed that Unmet preconditions were the main
childlessness, and the burden of childcare. factor that led to low second-child fertility intentions. Most
3. Results respondents cited this as a key barrier to having a second
child, believing that completing certain preconditions is
The RTA identified five primary themes explaining Weibo’s the mandatory step before having a second child. When
users’ reluctance to have a second child among Weibo respondents were asked about their reason for not having a
users. These themes illuminate the factors contributing second child, they referred to a range of preconditions they
to Chinese netizens’ low fertility intentions. While felt were necessary before they could start planning and

Volume 11 Issue 3 (2025) 78 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.5124