The association said that during the past 30 years, the trends of marriage and birth rate in Vietnam have changed dramatically. The average age of marriage has increased sharply while the marriage rate continues to decrease, causing the birth rate to fall by half.

VARS said that financial problems are the major cause.

Vietnamese tend to think that they must buy a house before getting married or having children, but with skyrocketing housing prices and rents, which weigh heavily on living costs, they are forced to work hard and skip the golden time to get married and have children.

Measures to promote marriage before the age of 30 and encouraging births in Vietnam remain general and might not work as expected, the association said, urging the Government to try more drastic solutions together with more attractive incentives.

Giving priorities to couples with two children in buying homes at social housing projects has been proposed as one solution.

Policies should also be raised to increase the supply of affordable homes, the association said, adding that lower cost homes are rare in major cities. More than 80% of new apartments in Hanoi and HCM City are from the high-end segment with prices from 50 million VND (1,990 USD) per sq.m.

Recently, HCM City also proposed a priority policy for couples with two children enabling them to buy homes at social housing projects as the birth rate in the southern city was at such a low level, together other solutions such as tuition exemption and reductions, improving healthcare services, adjustment of maternity leave, exemption of personal income tax and changes in pre-school childcare./. VNA