Read previewWhen it comes to settling down and having children, 26-year-old Bihan Chen views the choice in simple terms: It's a bad investment. Falling birth rates saw China's population shrank in 2022 for the first time since the early 1960s. "When it comes to having children, I don't have a shred of desire, only fear. AdvertisementOthers cited the loss of personal freedom as a key obstacle to having children. Having children remains a deeply personal decision that can't be evaluated by finances alone.

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Persons: —, Chen, Emily Huang, Huang, Xi Jinping, Xi, Zhu Zheng, haven't, Dudley L, Poston Jr, Rich, we've, Lanjie Wang, Wang, Collin Meisel, might've, Yi Organizations: Service, Business, Women's Congress, Getty, Texas, M University, Weibo, University of Denver's, Center for International Futures, Publishing, University of Wisconsin, Project Syndicate Locations: China, Beijing, Weibo, Xinhua, Japan, Korea, America, Madison