By [Magazine Writer]
China's rapid embrace of industrial robots appears to be having an unexpected side effect - fewer babies. A groundbreaking new study reveals that increased exposure to automation is driving down birth rates across the country, particularly among young adults and manufacturing workers.
The research comes as China grapples with historically low fertility rates, which dropped to just 1.07 births per woman in 2022, despite government efforts to encourage larger families after ending the one-child policy in 2016.
The study found that greater exposure to industrial robots leads to a 9.4% reduction in the number of children on average. The impact is even more dramatic for specific groups - manufacturing sector workers saw their fertility rates plunge by 27.7%, while young adults aged 16-24 experienced a 13.4% decline.
According to researchers, automation affects birth rates through multiple channels. Workers face economic uncertainty as robots reduce wages by 4.3% while increasing weekly work hours. Young people are pursuing more education to compete in the changing job market, with robot exposure pushing college enrollment up 5.8% among 16-24 year olds.
Marriage patterns are also shifting - automation increases cohabitation rates and makes young adults less likely to marry. Perhaps most telling, exposure to robots appears to change people's family planning goals, reducing their "ideal number of children" by 6.3% overall and 10% among young adults.
The timing aligns with China's automation boom. From 2010 to 2019, China's industrial robot stock exploded from around 5,200 units to nearly 783,000. By 2020, China had 246 robots per 10,000 manufacturing workers - double the global average.
This pattern may help explain similar demographic trends across Asia. Japan, Singapore, and South Korea - which together account for about 70% of global industrial robot installations - are all experiencing ultra-low birth rates between 0.8 and 1.3 children per woman.
As China cements its position as the world's leading adopter of industrial robots, the technology appears to be fundamentally reshaping both the economic landscape and deeply personal decisions about marriage and childbearing. The implications for China's demographic future could be profound.