China on Tuesday announced new measures to encourage families to have more children, after enforcing strict birth control for more than 30 years under the “one partner, one child” policy.
The world’s most populous country now faces a demographic crisis, with an aging workforce, a slowing economy and the slowest population growth in decades.
Despite the fact that the authorities abolished the one-child policy in 2016, allowing up to three children per couple, births have continued to decline over the last five years.
On Tuesday, the Health Ministry urged the central government and local authorities to spend more on reproductive health and improve child care services. These services are largely insufficient in the country.
Local authorities should “introduce active fertility support measures” through subsidies, tax deductions and better health insurance, as well as education, housing and employment assistance for families, the ministry said.
Provinces must also ensure that they have a sufficient number of nurseries until the end of the year for children from two to three years old.
China’s richest cities have already introduced housing loans, tax breaks, educational aid and even subsidies to encourage women to have more children. The directives published today seem to want to extend this policy to the entire territory.
China’s birth rate fell last year to 7.52 births per 1,000 people, the lowest since records began in 1949, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics.
The higher cost of living and the propensity for smaller families are among the reasons cited for this decline in births. In early August, health officials warned that China’s population will decline by 2025.
Source: Observadora
