Daily Skimm: China, Twitter, and Fabuloso

Oh Baby

The Story

China has an idea to ramp up the baby making.

Oh?

Last week, the government’s healthcare system announced a plan to get insurance to cover fertility treatments nationwide. The announcement — which will involve gradually rolling out the changes across China — is designed to cut costs for expensive treatments like IVF. Good news for citizens trying to conceive, since right now those interventions can run them a minimum of about $4,500. 

Why are they doing this?

China’s population is aging out. Last year, it fell for the first time in over 60 years. Its birth rate also plummeted, with only 6.7 births per 1,000 people. All of this can be traced to China's decades-old “one-child” policy, which it only started to ease down on in the 2010s. Meanwhile, marriage rates are at a historic low. A reported 40 million people struggle with infertility. And the high cost of IVF and other treatments aren't exactly making it easy for the average Chinese family to seek help.

What’s so bad about not having kids? The girl with the list says...

We know. But fewer people can mean a shrinking workforce and less economic growth. It also means less money to fund the country’s pension system for its fast aging population. That could place pressures on a Chinese government that doesn’t tolerate dissent well. And the government doesn’t have to imagine what could happen when pensions are at stake: just look at France.

theSkimm

When China launched the ”one-child” policy in the 1970s, the goal was to get the population in check and reduce strain on public resources. But decades later, China’s disproportionately small population of women is delaying marriage, with many opting out of having kids altogether. Now, it’s the government clock's that’s ticking.

And Also...This

Who’s tweeting out an apology…

Twitter. Yesterday, three former Twitter execs appeared before Congress and admitted the company made mistakes with the Hunter Biden laptop story. In 2020, weeks before the election, Twitter blocked a New York Post article on emails from the younger Biden’s business dealings. At the time, Twitter said it was conforming with policies against hacked materials. Now, the execs are saying ‘we messed up.’ But that the decision was entirely the company’s — and informed by efforts to reduce 2016 levels of disinformation. It wasn’t the only topic of conversation: execs revealed that the Trump White House had asked the company to remove tweets, including one by model Chrissy Teigen calling Trump a ”p*ssy a** b****.” The exec said the company refused, calling government requests like that a “slippery slope.” And said it’s a level of interference Twitter didn’t have to field from the Biden admin.

What sounds fun...

A vibrating pill. This week, doctors are able to start prescribing Vibrant. Approved by the FDA last year, the drug-free pill could help an estimated 9-20% of Americans who suffer from chronic constipation. And, what would you know, women could be at least 1.5 times more likely than men to deal with it. The disposable capsule vibrates once it hits the large intestine, stimulating the nerve cells and helping nudge the muscles that move food along. And then passes through once it’s done making its way through the old pipes. But yes, we can imagine other uses for it. So definitely talk to your doctor before wobbling and gobbling.

Who could be going gender neutral…

God. Yesterday, the Church of England said it’s launching a project this spring to explore whether to refer to God in a “non-gendered way" during worship. The Church says it’s to reflect the fact that “Christians have recognized since ancient times that God is neither male nor female.” But as of right now, it says it has “absolutely no plans” to cut or significantly change the liturgies.

What's better than a twofer...

A threefer. Just ask the Los Angeles Lakers.

What's not having people feel so fabulous...

Fabuloso.

When you're kicking yourself for making a mistake at work...

Take it from Google: it could be worse.