China’s falling gaokao numbers offer a revealing snapshot

Every summer, China’s gaokao, the national higher education entrance examination, provides an unusually revealing snapshot of household expectations. The critical metrics are not average scores or admission volumes. They are the choices families make about how their children will spend four years of their lives. The 2026 examination attracted 12.9 million registered candidates. This is a decline from 13.35 million in 2025 and 13.42 million in 2024. Demographics explain much of this…