China, which was once struggling with its population, is now in the process of increasing its population. For that, the Chinese government has announced many benefits for women who give birth to more babies. The new decision is to provide financial benefits in addition to tax breaks, home loan assistance, education benefits, etc. The aim is to encourage the country’s women to have more babies in order to increase the population and improve the labor force.
China is the most populous country in the world. That is why they implemented strict restrictions earlier to prevent population growth. But due to this strict population control, the country was in a new crisis when the population reached the point where it would decrease. That is why China is making significant changes in its population policy. As part of the country’s population policies, the Chinese government implemented the “one child policy” and forced abortions and sterilizations to prevent population growth. Because of this, the country is facing a demographic crisis. So the Chinese government currently requires a woman to give birth to more than one, to be precise three children.
According to a Global Times report in January this year, China had 141 million people by the end of 2021. But here in the same year, the number of newborns decreased to 1.06 crore. This equates to the death rate in China. Meanwhile, there are reports that the number of births in the eastern Chinese city of Wuhu has reached a very low level. The authorities started taking action when they realized that the country’s population would decrease with fewer births than deaths.
If the birth rate continues to fall sharply, the youth population will decline and that will shrink China’s labor force in the coming years. But it is also noteworthy that all these benefits are available only to married couples. Beijing has issued specific guidelines on who can have and how many children, while criticism has also been raised that China discriminates against unmarried women and minorities through its family planning policies.
In a recent New York Times report, children born to unmarried parents in China have difficulty getting medical insurance and education benefits. Also, unmarried and pregnant women are denied access to public health care and maternity leave. The report also states that if employers fire them for being pregnant, they are not even legally protected.
Educationally and economically advanced Chinese women are more self-sufficient than men. Therefore, many girls of the new generation consider things like marriage, family and children as a liability. Last year, China revised its Population and Family Planning Law to allow couples to have three children. But rising living costs and inflation are discouraging Chinese families from welcoming more babies.
English Summary: China Offering Benefits To Women For Having More Babies Amid ‘severe’ Demographic Crisis