Chinese authorities have sought to make concessions to stem an unprecedentedly severe demographic crisis, and after decades of forcing women to have abortions under its “one-child” policy, Beijing is encouraging three children.

The New York Times reported that Beijing is excluding unmarried women from incentives to have more children that come in the form of tax, credit and education benefits, adding that “Chinese law requires a pregnant woman and her husband to formally register their marriage.” management of pregnancy in a general hospital.

Given China’s historically low birth rate, officials are handing out home loans, education grants and even cash incentives to encourage women to have more children. However, the privileges are only available to married couples, which is increasingly unattractive to independent women, who in some cases choose to have children while they are single.

Pregnant single women are also denied access to health care or maternity leave insurance and have no legal protection if their employer wants them to be fired because of their pregnancy.