HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Vietnam abolished its long-standing two-child limit Tuesday to try and reverse declining birth rates and ease the pressures of an aging population. The National Assembly passed amendments scrapping rules that limit families to having one or two children, state media Vietnam News Agency reported Wednesday.

In 1988, after years of war had left the nation with "limited resources", Vietnam introduced rules blocking families from having more than two children, said The Associated Press. Until then, the average number of births per woman in Vietnam was just under four.

The move responded to a record-low birth rate that has persisted below population replacement levels for three years,