The Legacy of China's One-Child Policy

[Randy W]

Chinese authorities said they would reduce the number of abortions conducted for “non-medical reasons” at a time when the country is introducing several measures to boost its declining birth rates.

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China to Reduce Abortions for ‘Non-Medical Reasons’
The country’s cabinet said the move aims to improve women’s reproductive health.

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In 2018, China’s National Health Commission said around 9 million abortions were performed in the country annually. The country’s top health authority said most women who came to terminate their pregnancies were often young and single, with some having undergone repeated abortions.

Authorities blamed the lack of knowledge and limited access to contraception for the rise in unwanted pregnancies and abortions, according to the 2018 document published by the health authority.

“Consultation or guidance services for young people on contraceptives are not scientific enough, and as a result, people are not taking highly effective contraceptive measures,” it then said.

Monday’s guideline also encourages the use and availability of more contraception services for both women and men, adding that unwanted pregnancies should be prevented.

 

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Xinhua News Agency shared a celebratory post of a young couple getting married over the weekend, with a message: “Post-’00s have reached legal marriage age.” Many saw the viral post as a means to pressure Gen Z Chinese to tie the knot amid dramatic decline in the country’s marriage and birth rates.

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State Media Says Gen Z Ready for Marriage. They Say, Not Really.
Marriage registrations hit a 17-year low in 2020, as fewer people tied the knot.

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But users on microblogging platform Weibo, where the news outlet shared the five-second clip, were less enthusiastic. Many saw the viral post as a means to pressure Gen Z Chinese to tie the knot amid dramatic decline in the country’s marriage and birth rates.

“Nagging the post-’00s to get hitched in disguise? Leave them alone, they are just kids,” a user commented under Xinhua’s post. “The marriage rate among the new generation will only go down.”

“As a 19-year-old, I am still worrying about whether I will fail the exams,” another user wrote.

Chinese law stipulates the legal age of marriage as 22 and 20 for men and women, respectively, but an increasing number of career-focused and free-thinking young people are not willing to settle down. A national survey involving 2,905 unmarried urban youth aged 18 to 26 last year indicated that about 44% of women said they do not plan to get married, compared with 25% of men in favor of nuptials.

In 2020, only 8.1 million couples in China tied the knot, an estimated 40% drop from a peak in 2013, while the number of marriage registrations also hit a 17-year low, according to official data. Authorities are also encouraging couples to have more children, as the country reported its lowest birth rate since 1978 that year, while its aging population continues to grow.

 

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

China’s birth rate was the lowest since the founding of the country in 2021, while its net population was the lowest in nearly 60 years. At the end of 2021, China’s population was 1.42 billion, an increase of 480,000 over 2020.

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Infographic: China Faces a Shocking Drop in Population Growth
Despite the three-child policy, China’s birth rate in 2021 dropped to its lowest point since the founding of the country.

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At the end of 2021, China’s population was 1.42 billion, an increase of 480,000 over 2020. Annual births were 10.6 million, with a birth rate of 0.75%; 10.1 million people died, with a death rate of 0.72%; and the natural population growth rate was 0.03%.

It was previously predicted that China’s population would peak and begin shrinking in 2027-2030, Lu Jiehua, vice president of the Chinese Population Society and professor of sociology at Peking University, told China News Weekly. However, he said, it now appears China may reach its population peak in the next two years.

In June 2021, China loosened birth control policies to permit three children. Subsequent regional policies around the country have sought to increase the fertility rate, including moves to lower the cost of education, increase financial subsidies for parents, and extend maternity and parental leave.

 

 

Edited January 14, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Zhou Yanfang, a National People’s Congress delegate, proposed to encourage postgraduate and doctoral students to get married and have children at the ongoing annual “Two Sessions” political meetings. A related hashtag on the topic has since trended on microblogging platform Weibo, with one user saying, “Postgraduate students can’t even finish their theses. When would they have time to marry?”

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Edited January 14, 2023 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

The Chinese government is desperate for millennials to get married and start families. Young women have another agenda entirely.

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Young Chinese Have Shunned Marriage. Now, They Want Singles’ Rights.
The Chinese government is desperate for millennials to get married and start families. Young women have another agenda entirely.

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Shanshan has never met the other 270 people in the chat — which is called “Online Huddling Group for Singles” — but they have come to feel like close friends. Though their ages, hometowns, and interests vary, they’re all united by one thing: their vow to remain unmarried for life.

 . . .

Yet Chinese singles still face a multitude of barriers. The social stigma attached to remaining unmarried remains strong, with Chinese authorities — wary of a looming demographic crisis — branding females who stay single as “leftover women.”

Chinese law, meanwhile, penalizes those without a spouse. Single people can’t adopt a child, access assisted reproductive technologies, or — in many cases — claim maternity benefits. In some cities, they even face extra restrictions when buying a home.

But Chinese singles are attempting to shield themselves from these problems by forming tight-knit online groups. Members share their frustrations, swap tips on dealing with the stigma and dangers associated with living alone, and help each other navigate the legal system.

In the process, they’re fostering a budding Chinese singles’ rights movement — one that’s becoming more organized, and more ambitious, than ever before.

 

 

[Randy W]

In August that year, the child was “violently” taken from Tang’s arms at a Quanzhou hotel by five people, according to Tang and her family members.
However, the health bureau said in the letter that it wasn’t a case of human trafficking and that the child was taken away for a “unified social adjustment.” That could mean he was sent to a single person to raise as he was illegally born under China’s one-child policy at the time.

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Uproar Over a Baby Taken During the One-Child Policy Days
Local South China officials suspended after rejecting parents’ request for an investigation of what happened to their months-old son in 1990.

A child is photographed near a family planning service station in Haikou, Hainan province,

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The investigation takes place against the backdrop of an ongoing national campaign to crack down on human trafficking. A string of high-profile cases including those involving a caged woman and a shackled mother of eight reignited discussion of the longstanding issue and prompted calls for harsher penalties for traffickers.

The allegation of child abduction by officials in Quanzhou came to light Tuesday when a letter circulated online that was apparently issued by the Quanzhou health bureau to the affected couple, Tang Yueying and Deng Zhensheng. The couple earlier filed a petition with local police demanding an investigation of the alleged 1990 abduction of their then months-old son by several people, including former officials. The couple also requested a probe of their son’s current whereabouts.

In August that year, the child was “violently” taken from Tang’s arms at a Quanzhou hotel by five people, according to Tang and her family members.

However, the health bureau said in the letter that it wasn’t a case of human trafficking and that the child was taken away for a “unified social adjustment.” That could mean he was sent to a single person to raise as he was illegally born under China’s one-child policy at the time.

The child, the family’s seventh, was born in September 1989. The policy allowed each married couple to have no more than one child. Violators were usually punished with fines.

According to a judicial document seen by Caixin, the couple was fined 6,000 yuan ($893). Yet they managed to pay only 1,380 yuan to authorities.

The bureau said it didn’t keep any records of children involved in “unified social adjustment.”

 

 

[Randy W]

Liu Juan, an official at the National Healthcare Security Administration, said at a press conference Wednesday that local governments cannot ask single mothers to provide marriage certificates before claiming benefits through China’s maternity insurance scheme.

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Amid Pro-Birth Blitz, China Pledges Benefits for Single Moms
Single women have complained for years about local policies requiring they show proof of marriage before they can access maternity benefits.

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China has pledged to ensure unmarried women receive maternity benefits “without thresholds,” as officials ramp up their efforts to boost the country’s falling birthrate.

Liu Juan, an official at the National Healthcare Security Administration, said at a press conference Wednesday that local governments cannot ask single mothers to provide marriage certificates before claiming benefits through China’s maternity insurance scheme.

“There is no such restriction at the national level in terms of access to maternity benefits,” Liu said, referring to local requirements that women be married to be eligible. “Some local governments have been requiring related materials before providing services. Moving forward, we will follow up on this situation with the relevant departments to better protect the legitimate rights of those insured.”

China announced a raft of new pro-natal measures Tuesday, including plans to improve the country’s fragmented, regionally administered maternity insurance system by “unifying and standardizing payment policies for maternity benefits.”

 

 

[Randy W]

China often blames the country’s plunging marriage rate on women choosing to stay single. But the word “choose” can be misleading in a country where the urban-rural divide is also turning into a male-female divide.

In vast swathes of China, there is an acute shortage of college-educated men. It’s a gender imbalance born of many Chinese families’ conservative social attitudes: When their children graduate from college, parents tend to encourage their sons to go and seek their fortunes in the big cities, whereas they often pressure their daughters to return home and secure a safe, public sector job.

Ouyang Jing, a professor at the Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, says her research has found stark gender imbalances in white-collar workplaces across rural China: county-level schools, for example, have almost no young male teachers, she says.

“I only have a girl, and I feel safe if she is near me,” Ouyang recalls one interviewee, a director at a local government bureau, telling her. “If I had a boy, I wouldn’t have any concerns about safety. Boys should go out and do something big.”

Zhao Junru is a college-educated teacher who enjoys writing poetry and making jewelry in her spare time. She’s looking for someone from a similar background, but those men are almost impossible to find in her remote corner of Henan. 

“There are no men of my age at work. And the men I’ve dated here have nothing good in them,” Zhao told Sixth Tone. 

Zhao’s parents are desperate for her to settle down, and often used to try and set her up on blind dates. But Zhao says she’s done with blind dates. She wants romance, and yearns to find a man that she has a “strong attraction” to. 

“They are sincere about getting married, but they are not necessarily sincere about their love for women,” said Zhao.

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In China’s Hinterlands, Young Women Can’t Find a Man. Literally.
China often blames the country’s plunging marriage rate on women choosing to stay single. But the word “choose” can be misleading in a country where the urban-rural divide is also turning into a male-female divide.

Edited December 5, 2022 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

“At this stage, I just want to focus on my career and gain more financial freedom for myself,” a 24-year-old woman surnamed Li told Sixth Tone, adding she wouldn’t consider marriage for the next five years. “If I can’t even take care of myself, how can I take care of another person and a family?”

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After Falling Births, China’s Marriage Rate Sees New Low — Again
The number of people registering for marriage last year is the lowest in nearly three decades.

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China’s marriage rate slumped again in 2021, with the country recording the lowest number of nuptials since 1985, financial outlet Yicai reported Thursday, citing data from the National Statistics Bureau. Only 11.58 million people tied the knot for the first time last year, down by 0.71 million from 2020.

The figures, which aren’t yet available on official websites, add to growing concerns over the country’s ability to avert the population crisis plagued by low birth rates and aging. Demographers worry that China will be unable to reverse the falling birth rate, which also plunged to its lowest level since the early 1960s last year, with several provinces recording negative population growth for the first time in the country’s modern history.

 

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by Randy W (see edit history)

[Randy W]

Families having a third child or more in Shenzhen will receive a cash allowance of 19,000 yuan ($2,825) in total until the child reaches the age of 3, according to draft rules released by the city’s health authority Tuesday. Those having their first and second child will be offered 7,500 yuan and 11,000 yuan, respectively.

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Shenzhen Offers $2,800 Subsidy for Couples Having Third Child
Chinese cities are coming up with lucrative measures for childbirth as the country faces a demographic crisis.

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Families having a third child or more in Shenzhen will receive a cash allowance of 19,000 yuan ($2,825) in total until the child reaches the age of 3, according to draft rules released by the city’s health authority Tuesday. Those having their first and second child will be offered 7,500 yuan and 11,000 yuan, respectively.

Shenzhen has seen the number of births decrease for four consecutive years since 2017, with newborns in 2021 down 25% from the peak in 2017. Meanwhile, the number of married women of childbearing age in the city has declined for seven years in a row since 2015, the document said.

 . . .

“If people do not want to have children, just implementing various supportive policies won’t work,” Ren said. “It’s important to reshape people’s attitudes toward giving birth, making them feel that having children is meaningful.”

 

 

[Martin B]

7 hours ago, Randy W said:

Families having a third child or more in Shenzhen will receive a cash allowance of 19,000 yuan ($2,825) in total until the child reaches the age of 3, according to draft rules released by the city’s health authority Tuesday. Those having their first and second child will be offered 7,500 yuan and 11,000 yuan, respectively.

http://ow.ly/A2IQ50MpWVq

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Shenzhen Offers $2,800 Subsidy for Couples Having Third Child
Chinese cities are coming up with lucrative measures for childbirth as the country faces a demographic crisis.

 

 

If my math is correct that's 1000RMB/month if you have 3 kids (7500+11000+19000 divided by 36)??? That's.... not much. Especially in a high cost-of-living city like Shenzhen. 

 

[Randy W]

1 hour ago, Barfus said:

 

If my math is correct that's 1000RMB/month if you have 3 kids (7500+11000+19000 divided by 36)??? That's.... not much. Especially in a high cost-of-living city like Shenzhen. 

 

I don't know what a typical salary is in Shenzhen, but I'm guessing that it might be like at least a 10% raise for a lot of people.

[Randy W]

“There is a considerable possibility that starting this year, our country will face long-term negative population growth,” said Ren Yuan, a senior researcher at Fudan University’s Institute of Population Research.

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China’s Birth Rate Fell to Another Record Low in 2021, Gov’t Confirms
Despite the introduction of a nationwide three-child policy, China’s birth rate plunged to its lowest level in decades last year, according to newly released official data.

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The China Statistical Yearbook 2022 states that only 10.6 million people were born in China in 2021, the lowest total since 1961. The country’s population grew by just 480,000, also the lowest figure in decades.

“There is a considerable possibility that starting this year, our country will face long-term negative population growth,” said Ren Yuan, a senior researcher at Fudan University’s Institute of Population Research. “This also marks a turning point in our population pattern, which will bring a series of challenges to the country's development.”

The report includes the birth rates, death rates, and natural population growth rates of 31 Chinese provinces last year. For the first time, 13 provinces reported a negative natural population growth rate.

 

 

 

 

[Randy W]

Amid worries over the declining birth rate, China’s southwestern Sichuan province has done away with rules that required couples to be married before registering the birth of their children. 
The policy shift now also allows individuals to have as many children as they want while retaining benefits until now reserved for married couples.

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As Birth Rate Falls, Sichuan Lets the Unmarried Register as Parents
Officials say the policy shift will ensure that unmarried individuals can enjoy maternal and child care services.

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Starting Feb. 15, individuals who wish to have children will be allowed to register with authorities without restrictions on their marital status or the number of children they want, according to the revised rules released earlier this month by Sichuan’s health commission. The rules will be valid for five years.

Sichuan’s health authorities explained that the new move will “shift the focus of birth registration to childbearing desire and outcomes,” which can help monitor the local population and offer better maternity and child care services. In China, birth registration is linked to access to maternity benefits — including insurance and paid maternity leave — long reserved only for married couples.

 . . .

Over the past few years, many single mothers have underscored the difficulties in obtaining maternity benefits. As of 2017, about one-fifth of nearly 250,000 surveyed women aged 15 to 60 had been pregnant at least once when they were unmarried, according to a study published in 2020.

In one of the most high-profile cases to date, a single mother named Zhang Meng filed a suit in Shanghai in 2017 after she was told that she could not claim maternity insurance unless she presented a marriage certificate. Zhang’s lawsuit was unsuccessful, but she finally received the benefits in 2021 after the city relaxed its requirements.

Last year, China’s central government pledged to ensure unmarried women could receive maternity benefits, as some local governments required that women be married to access such benefits. Prior to Sichuan’s move, the provinces of Guangdong and Shaanxi also scrapped the prerequisite of being married before registering births.

 

 

[Randy W]

 

IN A MINUTE: The ageing Chinese town where the one-child policy worked ‘too well’