China Is Encouraging A New Era Of Marriage And Procreation

In the latest step by officials to boost the nation’s plummeting birth rate, China will begin pilot projects in more than 20 locations. It is trying to promote a “new-era” marriage and birthing culture.

China’s Family Planning Organisation, a national institution that implements the government’s population and fertility policies, will launch the programs. The organization will promote women to get married and have children.

The programs’ main goals are to promote marriage, birth at the appropriate age, parental duty sharing, and the elimination of expensive “bride prices” and other antiquated practices.

Bride prices refer to the dowry paid by the groom’s parents to the bride’s family, which averages $20,000 in some provinces. Guangzhou and Handan within the Chinese region of Hebei are participating in the pilot.

The group had already begun projects in 20 locations, including Beijing. The plans are part of several programs launched by Chinese regions to encourage people to have children.

It includes tax incentives, housing assistance, and free or reduced schooling for bearing a third child. Most of the demographic concerns that have allowed India to surpass China as the world’s most populous country may be traced back to China’s rigorous one-child regulations (1980-2015).

The maximum number of children allowed is now three. To increase the fertility rate in the country, government officials recommended in March that unmarried women receive the opportunity to receive egg preservation and IVF treatment, amongst additional services.

They were concerned about China’s aging population and the country’s first population decline in 60 years. Because of the costly nature of childcare and the requirement to have time off from work, many women have decided not to carry any or more children.

Gender discrimination also remains a substantial barrier. As its workforce ages, China faces a looming demographic catastrophe.

Analysts fear this could stall economic growth and put an additional burden on already-strained public budgets. For the very first time in over sixty years, the country’s population fell in 2022.

According to an AFP story, the Chinese population could fall by 1.1 percent per year on average, according to a study. From 1980 until 2015, China enforced a strict one-child policy.

It was at the core of many of the demographic issues that enabled India to emerge as the world’s most populated country. Recently, some Chinese institutions devised a novel idea to send students on an extended holiday.

The intention was to find romance in April to reverse the plummeting birth rate. The Fan Mei Educational Group-run schools stated last month that they will be closed between April 1 to 7.

They challenged pupils to have fun to increase marriage rates. Local businesses, regions, and communities are experimenting with strategies to encourage people to marry.

It includes providing 30 days of “marriage leave” or conducting ads encouraging city ladies to date rural elder bachelors. In February of this year, the government released its primary policy statement, claiming to combat high “bride prices”.

The policy included lavish marriage ceremonies as a component of efforts to promote the creation of public cultural-ethical norms in rural China.

Following that, many provinces, cities, and regions reacted to the call to campaign for new-era marital culture as well as research and address relevant issues.

According to the report, civil affairs departments in various locations indicated that they will accept marriage filings on May 20 as part of attempts to develop this culture that promotes childbirth. Because “520” sounds close to “I love you” in Chinese, many Chinese couples have already chosen the date for their marriage registry.

Demographer He Yafu told the Global Times that there has been a decrease in births and a decrease in marriage rates since 2017. According to Yao Ying, the vice chairman of the organization, the pilot areas are expected to implement innovative and aggressive actions.

The main aim is “to promote childbearing-friendly environments while helping to develop Chinese modernity with the backing of high-quality population development.” Employees with children should be able to work flexible hours and from home, according to the state council.

Permanent inhabitants with two or three children below the age of 18 from the eastern town of Jingdezhen are qualified for an allowance of up to 300 yuan ($45), for each square meter when purchasing a property.

Hangzhou, in northeastern Zhejiang province, is providing a single 5,000 ($727) yuan discount for couples with two children, and a 20,000 yuan ($2,907) subsidy for families with three children.

It also relaxed purchasing limitations regarding the number of dwelling units that can be bought for families with several children. Leshan in southwestern Sichuan province offers 5,000 yuan for the purchase of a newly built commercial dwelling by a family with two or more children.

According to local media sources, families with three children in the eastern region of Shandong, China’s second-most populated province, will be qualified for free secondary education alongside the country’s nine-year free compulsory education.

According to revised guidelines announced by the city’s health department in January, families with three or more children will be eligible for a monetary stipend of 19,000 yuan ($2,825) per kid till the kid reaches the age of three.

China has one of the world’s lowest total fertility rates, or TFR, the maximum number of babies a woman is projected to have in her lifetime. The TFR in the United States and the United Kingdom is 1.7 and 1.6, respectively.

The TFR in India, which recently surpassed China in population, is 2. China’s population is expected to fall below one billion people by 2080, and it will be under 800 million around 2100.

As the balance shifts, China’s shrinking working-age population will be forced to cover social security payments for the country’s enormous 60-plus population. Marriage ceremonies in China are falling, with the lowest recorded rate since 1985 in 2021.

Last year, population reductions were recorded in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, while the number of newborn births in China fell to a record low of less than 10 million.

The “new-era marriage and childbearing culture” is an ambitious attempt to redefine the public perception of marriage and family and effect widespread cultural change.

Local government personnel in pilot cities, towns, and districts have been entrusted with encouraging young people to create families and urging fathers to participate in child-rearing.

This includes requiring village committees to put limits on extravagant bride prices and asking young ladies to promise lavish betrothal gifts.

The contentious one-child policy, implemented in 1979 to restrict population growth, has significantly affected China’s population trends throughout the years. Families who broke the regulations were penalized and, in certain instances, lost their employment.

In a culture that has traditionally favored males over girls, the practice resulted in compelled abortions and a severely skewed gender ratio dating back to the 1980s. In 2016, the restriction was repealed, and married people were permitted to have a maximum of two kids.

In the past few years, the government has also offered tax rebates and improved maternal healthcare, among additional incentives, in an attempt to reverse, or at least reduce, the declining birth rate. However, these efforts did not result in an ongoing rise in births.

The results of a once-decade census, reported in 2021, revealed that China’s population was rising at its slowest rate in decades. Other East Asian nations, like Japan and South Korea, are also experiencing population declines and aging.

Proofread & Published By Naveenika Chauhan