The World Briefly

February 01, 2023

Ex vitro Fertilization

China

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China’s Sichuan province is dropping restrictions on unmarried people having children, part of an effort by officials to boost the country’s plummeting birth rate, CNN reported.

Currently, the Sichuan government only allows married couples to register the birth of up to two children. Starting in Feb., everyone – including unmarried parents – can register children, and as many as they want.

In China, the registration is required for parents to access benefits such as maternity care and leave. It also provides the children with a special household registration document that allows them access to healthcare, education and other social services, the Guardian wrote.

An official from the Sichuan health commission told local media that the policy was intended to safeguard the rights of single mothers, not to encourage unmarried people to become parents.

Sichuan’s relaxation of birth registration requirements is the latest effort by Chinese provinces and the Chinese government to promote births, after the country saw its population decline last year for the first time in more than six decades.

Officials fear the decline’s impact on economic growth.

Still, efforts to promote child-bearing have been on the upswing since China scrapped its decades-long “one child” policy in 2015 to allow couples to have two children – which in 2021 was then extended to allow three. The government also began introducing measures shoring up maternity leave and offering tax deductions for children.

Even so, many young people are choosing to marry later or deciding against having children because of the costs, impacts on careers and other factors.

This story originally appeared in the February 01, 2023 newsletter, Playing Charades.