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HONG KONG: China will launch pilot projects in more than 20 cities to create a “new era” culture of marriage and childbearing to promote a friendly environment for having children, the latest move by the authorities to boost the country’s declining birth rate.
Chinese Family Planning AssociationThe state-backed Global Times newspaper reported on Monday that the national body that implements the government’s population and fertility measures will launch projects to encourage women to marry and have children.
The paper said that promoting marriage and having children at appropriate ages, encouraging parents to share child-rearing responsibilities, and curbing high “bride prices” and other outdated customs.
Cities covered in the pilot program include the manufacturing hub of Guangzhou and behind in Hebei Province, China. The newspaper said the association had already launched projects in 20 cities, including Beijing, last year.
“Society needs to guide young people more on the concept of marriage and childbirth,” demographer He Yafu told The Times.
The projects come amid a series of measures being taken by Chinese provinces to motivate people to have children, including tax incentives, housing subsidies, and free or subsidized education for having a third child.
China implemented a strict one-child policy from 1980 until 2015 – the root cause of many of the demographic challenges that have allowed India to become the world’s most populous country. Since then the limit has been raised to three children.
Concerned about China’s first population decline in six decades and rapid aging, the government’s political advisers suggested in March that single and unmarried women should get egg-freezing and IVF treatment, among other services to increase the fertility rate in the country.
Many women have been put off having more children or no child at all due to the expense of childcare and having to put their careers on hold, and gender discrimination remains a major obstacle.
Chinese Family Planning AssociationThe state-backed Global Times newspaper reported on Monday that the national body that implements the government’s population and fertility measures will launch projects to encourage women to marry and have children.
The paper said that promoting marriage and having children at appropriate ages, encouraging parents to share child-rearing responsibilities, and curbing high “bride prices” and other outdated customs.
Cities covered in the pilot program include the manufacturing hub of Guangzhou and behind in Hebei Province, China. The newspaper said the association had already launched projects in 20 cities, including Beijing, last year.
“Society needs to guide young people more on the concept of marriage and childbirth,” demographer He Yafu told The Times.
The projects come amid a series of measures being taken by Chinese provinces to motivate people to have children, including tax incentives, housing subsidies, and free or subsidized education for having a third child.
China implemented a strict one-child policy from 1980 until 2015 – the root cause of many of the demographic challenges that have allowed India to become the world’s most populous country. Since then the limit has been raised to three children.
Concerned about China’s first population decline in six decades and rapid aging, the government’s political advisers suggested in March that single and unmarried women should get egg-freezing and IVF treatment, among other services to increase the fertility rate in the country.
Many women have been put off having more children or no child at all due to the expense of childcare and having to put their careers on hold, and gender discrimination remains a major obstacle.
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