Gen Z opts for fake baby bumps over real children

While young Chinese may not be ready to start families, they are still romanticizing these life milestones. Popularized last year by Gen Z influencer Meizi Gege (@莓子哥哥), Chinese women are staging photoshoots with fake baby bumps. With the average age of first-time mothers rising, some women are eager to capture maternity moments while they are still in their physical prime. The trend, known as pre-made maternity photos (预制孕妇照) is part of a larger movement called “shooting premade moments for a pre-made life” (拍预制朋友圈享预制人生), which entails taking photos in advance and posting them at a later time or place to present an idealized life. “While I’m still slim, I wore a fake belly to take maternity photos and enjoyed a pre-made life. I even did it with my best friend!” wrote Meize Gege on Xiaohongshu. But while young people are simulating future joys through photos, many are actively avoiding the real-life steps that traditionally lead to parenthood — starting with marriage. Young Chinese say ‘I don’t’ to marriage With children in China rarely born outside of marriage, the sharp drop in unions is exacerbating demographic woes. In 2024, the number of marriages fell a whopping 20.5% YoY to 6.1 million — the largest drop on record since the Ministry of Civil Affairs began publishing statistics in 1986. The waning interest in marriage is fueled by financial uncertainty, including a high youth unemployment rate (which came in at 16.9% last month, even after the government revised its methodology) and a lack of good job prospects. High cost of raising a child is turning many away Even for those who do want children, the financial reality is often too daunting — China is one of the most expensive countries to raise a child. According to a 2024 report by Beijing-based YuWa Population Research Institute, the average cost of raising a child in China until the age of 18 is 538,000 RMB ($71,624), more than 6.3 times as high as its GDP per capita. In comparison, childrearing costs in the U.S. are 4.11 times per capita GDP. Women, in particular, bear the brunt of these financial pressures. “Because the current social environment in China is not friendly to women’s fertility, the time cost and opportunity cost for women to have children are too high,” stated the report, noting that women typically see a reduction of 2,106 working hours when looking after children under 4, resulting in a wage loss of around 63,000 RMB ($8,387). Men, on the other hand, experience little change to their livelihoods after becoming fathers. Despite government efforts to combat this trend through cash incentives and pilot projects aimed at fostering a “new-era marriage and childbearing culture,” these measures have not been enough to rally people to the registration office. Many are delaying marriage or growing disillusioned with the institution altogether. “Marriage will drag you into an abyss. Originally, as long as you can take care of yourself, that’s enough. But once you enter marriage, you have to become a part-time nanny and a breeding machine for the whole family, working non-stop year-round, and over time, you won’t receive any care or affection. If you don’t do it, you’ll be criticized in all sorts of ways,” wrote Weibo user Qiangu (@浅姑) to her 799,000 followers. Government rolls out cash incentives for parents Still, China's government isn’t backing down. On March 16, Beijing unveiled a “Special Action Plan to Boost Consumption,” detailing ways to improve domestic spending and reduce income burdens on households. Among the measures — which include raising the minimum wage and stabilizing the stock market — are plans to “increase support for fertility and child-rearing” and to “research and establish a childcare subsidy system.” By offering generous subsidies, China hopes to tackle its declining birth rate and, in turn, its shrinking workforce. Although births in 2024 went up by 520,000 compared to 2023, largely due to the Year of the Dragon being seen as an auspicious time to have children, the birth rate had fallen for seven years straight prior. Meanwhile, the country’s total population has been falling since 2022. So far, 23 provincial-level regions have introduced childbirth subsidies at various levels and over 20 provincial-level regions have incorporated assisted reproductive medical services into their health insurance coverage, reported People’s Daily. In Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia, for instance, couples having their first child can receive a one-time payment of 10,000 RMB ($1,396). The subsidies increase with each additional child: the second child qualifies for 10,000 RMB per year until they turn five, while the third child or any subsequent child will receive the same annual subsidy until they turn 10, totaling 100,000 RMB ($13,313) — roughly twice the annual income of local citizens. Some cities are already seeing positive results. In Tianmen, Hubei province, the number of newborns rose by 17% in 2024 following the introduction of subsidies, housing incentives, and maternity leave allowances, reversing an eight-year decline, according to Xinhua. ‘Pre-made moments’ go viral — but not everyone is impressed Ultimately, not everyone’s sold on the trend of faux pregnancy photography. Some netizens are slamming it for setting unrealistic expectations for real moms, while others are calling it a clever marketing stunt for photography studios. “Nowadays, no one is getting married, no one is having children. Photo studios are getting restless and starting to take action,” writes one Xiaohongshu user. Another comments: “Stop marketing this kind of stuff, okay? Women don’t need to be beautiful all the time, and aren’t maternity photos supposed to capture a specific moment? If the child isn’t in the womb, what are we even documenting?” With China’s Gen Z showing little interest in having real babies at the moment, Beijing will need to look beyond childcare subsidies to improve its economic outlook. Potential solutions, as suggested by the YuWa Population Research Institute, include expanding nurseries, offering equal maternity and paternity leave, protecting single women’s reproductive rights, and reforming the education system. Without financial security and meaningful structural changes, don’t expect a bump in baby numbers anytime soon.

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Gen Z opts for fake baby bumps over real children