China to Modify <n> child policy

[dnoblett]

An ongoing topic - click here for Most Recent Post

or click here for other topics tagged - one child policy

 

BBC;

Quote

China has decided to end its decades-long one-child policy, Xinhua news agency reports.

 

All couples will now be allowed to have two children, the state-run news agency said, citing a statement from the Communist Party.

 

The controversial policy was introduced nationally in 1979, to reduce the country's birth rate and slow the population growth rate.

 

However, concerns at China's ageing population led to pressure for change.

 

The one-child policy is estimated to have prevented about 400m births since it began.

 

Couples who violated the policy faced a variety of punishments, from fines and the loss of employment to forced abortions.

 

Over time, the policy was relaxed in some provinces, as demographers and sociologists raised concerns about rising social costs and falling worker numbers.

 

The Communist Party began formally relaxing national rules two years ago, allowing couples in which at least one of the pair is an only child to have a second child.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34665539

 

Statistically limiting to two children will result in slowing and reversing population growth due to deaths prior to childbearing due to disease and accidents, as well as many choosing to have one or no children.

 

It is also more fair for those who want their child to have a brother/sister as well as those who had a child die and want to have another, or got pregnant by accident.

Edited February 23, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

In the People's Daily

 

China to allow two children for all couples

(Xinhua) 19:14, October 29, 2015

[warpedbored]

I heard on PBS radio today that the imbalance in the birth rate for boys vs girls was also a major factor.

[Randy W]

A "trip down memory lane", from the Shanghaiist

A look back at slogans and propaganda of the one-child policy

Quotes from various signs around the country . . .

Quote

2006 - "Family planning, a fundamental national policy."

1997 - "For those who should but refuse to practice forced abortion of a second child, six other families will be punished as well."

"Three days after giving birth to the second child, mothers should be sterilized."

"Fewer and better births, happiness throughout your whole life."

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Some good information and an excellent analysis from the National Geographic, although it's heavily reliant on specific anecdotes

How China’s One-Child Policy Backfired Disastrously
The three-decade old rule was officially rescinded this week. But its toll will haunt China for years to come.

Quote

China's one-child policy was aimed at slashing the nation's population to boost economic growth. It resulted in millions of forced sterilizations, abortions, infanticide, and marital misery.

. . .

Mei Fong, a former Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal reporter, . . . describes how the policy caused an enormous demographic headache for China; why it will take decades to reverse; and how, as a result, China is full of lonely men.

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Granting amnesty . . .

China to register unregistered citizens
CCTV.com
12-10-2015 06:24 BJT

Quote

China will provide unregistered citizens with household registration permits, a crucial document entitling them to social welfare, according to a high-level reform meeting.

. . .

The meeting was presided over by President Xi Jinping who heads the group.

China has around 13 million unregistered people, one percent of the entire population. They include orphans and "black children" (second children born illegally during the period of strict enforcement of the one-child policy), the homeless and those who have yet to apply for one or who have simply lost theirs. Those parents who violated family planning policy often refrained from getting hukou for their children in order to avoid fines.

Wednesday's meeting was told that registration should take place irrespective of family planning and other policy limits, and those without hukou who face difficulties in applying should see their problems solved.

"The number of people without hukou, their distribution and causes should be made clear... and every citizen's right to hukou should be protected in accordance with the law," the statement said.

It was stressed that hukou registration should be coordinated with family planning, adoption, aid for the homeless and nationality management.

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

A side effect of the change, which takes effect on Jan 1

Wedding scramble: end to China’s policy of holidays for 'late marriages' leads to dash for the registry
Changes in decades-old population policy also sound death knell for incentives to delay marriage

Quote

They were one of many Chinese couples seeking to take advantage of “late-marriage” holidays that will be eliminated when changes to the country’s population law come into effect on January 1.

The landmark changes passed by the top legislature on Sunday not only mark the end of the decades-old one-child policy – they also mean the end to extra holidays that were given to couples who delayed marriage.

The length of the holidays varied across the country, but men who got married over the age of 25 and women who waited until at least 23 were eligible for more leave than the usual three days.

In Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin it amounted to seven extra days, in Guangdong 10 , in Sichuan and Shaanxi 20, and in Shanxi and Gansu it was a massive 27 days.

“The new [family planning] law came out Sunday afternoon and they confirmed that there will no late-marriage holiday. So we made the decision last night to register our marriage as soon as possible to take advantage of the existing law and enjoy the seven days of additional leave,” Qiang said.

. . .

Shanghai secretary Chen Yeping said that for some people the late-marriage holiday was the only reason to get married.

“Take away this incentive and I don’t see any reason to be married,” the 31-year-old woman said.

Edited February 21, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

On 11/1/2015 at 9:03 PM, Randy W said:

Some good information and an excellent analysis from the National Geographic, although it's heavily reliant on specific anecdotes

How China’s One-Child Policy Backfired Disastrously
The three-decade old rule was officially rescinded this week. But its toll will haunt China for years to come.

Quote

China's one-child policy was aimed at slashing the nation's population to boost economic growth. It resulted in millions of forced sterilizations, abortions, infanticide, and marital misery.

. . .

Mei Fong, a former Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal reporter, . . . describes how the policy caused an enormous demographic headache for China; why it will take decades to reverse; and how, as a result, China is full of lonely men.

 

 

A very extreme case here - in the SCMP

Chinese woman dies after four abortions in a year trying for boy

Mother was pressured into terminating the pregnancies by her husband, who divorced her when she later fell ill, according to newspaper report

Quote

The husband divorced the woman after she fell ill through terminating her pregnancies, the Jianghuai Morning News reported.

 

The woman gave birth to a girl four years ago, but her husband insisted their second child be a boy.

 

Repeated abortions destroyed the health of the woman, according to the article, without giving details of her illnesses.

 

The woman, whose full name was not given and who came from a county near Wuhu in Anhui province, found out the sex of her unborn children through X-rays.

 

Traditional Chinese culture favours boys over girls, but it is illegal in China for doctors to tell mothers the sex of their unborn child in case they terminate the pregnancy. Unlicensed medical practitioners operate illegally to inform women of their fetus’ sex.

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

It may not be enough!

This is from the SCMP and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in its annual “blue book” report on Chinese society issued on Friday.

China must relax birth controls to defuse population time bomb, top think tank warns

Researchers say two-child policy is falling short and more action needed to balance rapidly greying society

Quote

By last year, 16.8 per cent of China’s population was aged 60 years or above while the average life expectancy was 76.5 years. That’s up from 15.5 per cent of the population in 2014. Life expectancy was 74.8 years in 2010.

In addition, the country’s labour force – people aged 16 to 59 – shrank for the fifth year in a row last year to 907.47 million, down from 910.96 million a year earlier. That pool is expected to shrink to 700 million by 2050, a “sharp decline” from the estimated 830 million in 2030, according to the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security.

 

China is aiming to have about 19.2 million births each year to balance the growing number of elderly people.

 

The authorities projected the number of births would rise to 20 million each year by allowing all couples to have a second child from 2015.

 

But so far those projections have not been met – last year the total rose to a record 17.86 million births and the academy does not expect even that momentum to be maintained.

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Just DO IT, already!

from the Shanghaiist

China reportedly considering letting families have as many kids as they want
But is it already too late?

 

Quote

However, following an initial “baby bump” that saw births in China rise to their highest level since 2000, the policy’s effects have proved lackluster. In 2017, China’s birth rate actually dropped from the year before as study after study has shown that most Chinese families don’t want to have a second kid, reasoning that raising one child is expensive enough in modern China.

Edited February 21, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

. . . maybe some more ENCOURAGEMENT is needed - in Quartz

China’s quest for more babies is showing signs of desperation

Quote

The suggestion came from an Aug. 14 commentary (link in Chinese) in Xinhua Daily, a Communist Party-affiliated newspaper in China’s eastern Jiangsu province. Its authors, both from a local university, suggested that all citizens under age 40 be required to pay into a fertility fund based on salary. Parents can get the money out when having a second child, the idea being to compensate for the loss of income faced by women who stop working during pregnancy and for a few years after. Those who don’t have a second child can only withdraw their money at retirement. Presently workers in China pay mandatory contributions towards retirement, health, and unemployment benefits.

 

. . .

These moves are speaking to some of the deepest fears and challenges authorities face in China. The number of live births fell 3.5% from 2016 to 2017, when 17.23 million were born despite the looser policy. That’s worrying because China faces threats to its economic development and social stability from its one-child policy. The limit on children brought about a massive gender imbalance due to the preference for male heirs, as well as a shrinking labor force, which is not good for its national pension plan.

 

The number of working adults per retiree is set to go from around five to just 1.6 over the next two decades, journalist Mei Fong, author of One Child, told NPR in 2016. China’s total population is expected to begin declining in the next decade, and could drop to 600 million by the end of this century, about where it was in the 1950s.

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

in the SCMP

China’s two-child policy under fire as parents’ bank account frozen for having third child

• Couple denied access to funds for failing to pay ‘social maintenance fee’
• Speculation persists that falling fertility rates will prompt further changes to policy

Quote

The couple, from China’s eastern province of Shandong, failed to meet the deadline to pay the “social maintenance fee” of 64,626 yuan (US$9,500) to the local authority, the local court said on Sunday, and were denied access to the 22,987 yuan in their account as a result.

. . .

Some social media users appeared confused by the local government’s action while others expressed sympathy for the family.

“Is the country joking? It’s urging people who don’t want to give birth to give birth but punishing those who want to,” one commenter wrote on the Chinese microblogging platform Weibo.

Edited February 21, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Now I'm hearing talk of lowering the age of marital eligibility to give them more time to have more kids.

[Randy W]

. . . and now? from the SCMP

China’s ‘awkward silence’ as lack of family planning slogans from 70th anniversary parade could signal policy shift

• Beijing dropped family planning slogans and delegates from its National Day parade in a move that could signal a change to its controversial policy
• China abandoned its one-child policy in 2016 to allow couples to have two children, as its birth rate slows and population ages

Quote

Analysts said the lack of slogans or delegates related to the policy was a signal China could be about to lift restrictions entirely in a bid to encourage births.

 

“Family planning was an achievement for the People’s Republic at its 60th anniversary, there was an awkward silence at the 70th anniversary,” said Yi Fuxian, a researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a long-standing critic of China’s birth restrictions.

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

from the Sixth Tone on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/1570821646570023/posts/2883854558600052/

Quote

China’s top population control authority may be moving toward loosening restrictions imposed under the current two-child policy to counteract some of the lowest birth rates in the country.

Chinese Authorities Support Scrapping Birth Limits in Depopulated Region
To counteract some of the lowest birth rates in the country, three northeastern provinces have received the green light to consider new population policy.

Quote

 

The National Health Commission said Thursday that China’s northeastern region, which includes the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning, should analyze its policies — and if necessary, rethink them.

“Based on that (research), Northeast China can introduce comprehensive fertility policies on a trial basis,” the commission wrote in response to a proposal by a delegate from the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislative body.

The northeastern region has some of the lowest fertility rates in the country. In 2019, the three provinces reported birth rates ranging from 5.7 to 6.5 newborns per 1,000 people — well below the national figure of 10.48, already the lowest birth rate since the People’s Republic of China was founded 70 years ago. The region’s abysmal fertility rates are partly due to slow economic development, experts say: Many young people leave their hometowns to go work in bigger, more developed cities.