BEIJING: China’s national legislature on Friday formally endorsed the three-child policy mooted by the ruling Communist Party in a major policy change aimed at halting a sharp drop in birth rates in the world’s most populous country.
The amended Population and Family Planning Act, which allows Chinese couples to have up to three children, was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.npc)
In an apparent attempt to address Chinese couples’ reluctance to have more children due to rising costs, the amended law also passed more social and economic support measures to address concerns.
The new law says the country will take supportive measures, including finance, taxes, insurance, education, housing and employment, to ease the burden for families, the official China Daily reported.
The report states that the NPC has amended the law to implement the central leadership’s decision to deal with new conditions in social and economic development and to promote balanced long-term population growth.
In May this year, the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) relaxed its strict two-child policy to allow all couples to have three children.
China allowed all couples to have two children in 2016, scrapping a decades-old one-child policy policymakers blame for the demographic crisis in the country.
Chinese officials claim that the one-child policy implemented for more than three decades has prevented more than 400 million births.
The decision to allow a third child comes after a once-in-a-decade census this month that China’s population grew at the slowest pace to 1.412 billion amid official estimates that the decline could begin as early as next year. .
The demographic crisis facing China was expected to deepen, new census data showed as the population of people above 60 years of age rose by 18.7 percent last year to 264 million.
As calls for the government to lift family planning restrictions grew louder due to concerns that the country’s declining population could result in severe labor shortages and negatively impact the world’s second-largest economy, the CPC approved a third decided to allow Children refusing to abolish family planning policy altogether.
“The data shows that the aging of the Chinese population has deepened, and we will continue to face pressure to achieve long-term balanced population growth,” said Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics.nbs), said while releasing the census data on May 11.
The two-child policy failed to enthuse couples to have a second child, citing the high cost of raising children, as fewer opted for a second child.
Bad feedback made Liang Jianzhang, professor Peking UniversitySchool of Economics, to suggest that the government offer parents one million yuan (USD 156,000) for each newborn child in order to cushion the country’s falling birth rate.
Hang Seng Bank (China) chief economist Dan Wang said the three-child policy would have a positive effect on China’s birth rate, but not as much as officials expected.
“The high costs of housing and education, as well as the lack of job security for women, are strong economic barriers to having children,” he said, adding that the cost of having a third child would be too high for most of the middle class. Family.
The declining trend has led Chinese demographers to speculate that India’s population may have overtaken that of China. a Projected 2027 to take the top spot as the most populous country in the world.
Projected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country around 2027, India is expected to add about 273 million people between now and 2050 and will remain the most populous country by the end of the current century , as stated in a United Nations report in 2019.
The United Nations report states that in 2019, the estimated population of India was 1.37 billion and that of China was 1.43 billion and by 2027, India’s population is projected to exceed that of China.
Lu Jihua, professor of sociology at Peking University, said China’s population decline could peak by 2027 before it begins. Some demographers believe that the peak could come by 2022.
China also faces the risk of falling into the trap of low fertility, as it recorded 12 million births in 2020, marking a fourth consecutive year of decline.
The overall fertility rate for women of childbearing age in China was 1.3, a relatively low level.
A report from China’s central bank – the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) this year, said that China’s demographics are set to change as its population growth enters negative growth after 2025, resulting in a drop in consumer demand. There will be a decrease.
“When the total population enters negative growth [after 2025]There will be a decrease in demand. “We need to focus on the impact of demographics on future consumption,” said Cai Feng, a member of the PBOC’s monetary policy committee.
The PBOC study says China should immediately liberalize its birth policies or face a scenario in which the number of workers and the burden of care for the elderly is higher than in the US by 2050.
It said the country should not interfere with people’s ability to have children or it would be too late to reverse the economic impact of the dwindling population.
China is also eyeing a progressive, flexible and differentiated route to raise the retirement age.
The amended Population and Family Planning Act, which allows Chinese couples to have up to three children, was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress.npc)
In an apparent attempt to address Chinese couples’ reluctance to have more children due to rising costs, the amended law also passed more social and economic support measures to address concerns.
The new law says the country will take supportive measures, including finance, taxes, insurance, education, housing and employment, to ease the burden for families, the official China Daily reported.
The report states that the NPC has amended the law to implement the central leadership’s decision to deal with new conditions in social and economic development and to promote balanced long-term population growth.
In May this year, the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) relaxed its strict two-child policy to allow all couples to have three children.
China allowed all couples to have two children in 2016, scrapping a decades-old one-child policy policymakers blame for the demographic crisis in the country.
Chinese officials claim that the one-child policy implemented for more than three decades has prevented more than 400 million births.
The decision to allow a third child comes after a once-in-a-decade census this month that China’s population grew at the slowest pace to 1.412 billion amid official estimates that the decline could begin as early as next year. .
The demographic crisis facing China was expected to deepen, new census data showed as the population of people above 60 years of age rose by 18.7 percent last year to 264 million.
As calls for the government to lift family planning restrictions grew louder due to concerns that the country’s declining population could result in severe labor shortages and negatively impact the world’s second-largest economy, the CPC approved a third decided to allow Children refusing to abolish family planning policy altogether.
“The data shows that the aging of the Chinese population has deepened, and we will continue to face pressure to achieve long-term balanced population growth,” said Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics.nbs), said while releasing the census data on May 11.
The two-child policy failed to enthuse couples to have a second child, citing the high cost of raising children, as fewer opted for a second child.
Bad feedback made Liang Jianzhang, professor Peking UniversitySchool of Economics, to suggest that the government offer parents one million yuan (USD 156,000) for each newborn child in order to cushion the country’s falling birth rate.
Hang Seng Bank (China) chief economist Dan Wang said the three-child policy would have a positive effect on China’s birth rate, but not as much as officials expected.
“The high costs of housing and education, as well as the lack of job security for women, are strong economic barriers to having children,” he said, adding that the cost of having a third child would be too high for most of the middle class. Family.
The declining trend has led Chinese demographers to speculate that India’s population may have overtaken that of China. a Projected 2027 to take the top spot as the most populous country in the world.
Projected to overtake China as the world’s most populous country around 2027, India is expected to add about 273 million people between now and 2050 and will remain the most populous country by the end of the current century , as stated in a United Nations report in 2019.
The United Nations report states that in 2019, the estimated population of India was 1.37 billion and that of China was 1.43 billion and by 2027, India’s population is projected to exceed that of China.
Lu Jihua, professor of sociology at Peking University, said China’s population decline could peak by 2027 before it begins. Some demographers believe that the peak could come by 2022.
China also faces the risk of falling into the trap of low fertility, as it recorded 12 million births in 2020, marking a fourth consecutive year of decline.
The overall fertility rate for women of childbearing age in China was 1.3, a relatively low level.
A report from China’s central bank – the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) this year, said that China’s demographics are set to change as its population growth enters negative growth after 2025, resulting in a drop in consumer demand. There will be a decrease.
“When the total population enters negative growth [after 2025]There will be a decrease in demand. “We need to focus on the impact of demographics on future consumption,” said Cai Feng, a member of the PBOC’s monetary policy committee.
The PBOC study says China should immediately liberalize its birth policies or face a scenario in which the number of workers and the burden of care for the elderly is higher than in the US by 2050.
It said the country should not interfere with people’s ability to have children or it would be too late to reverse the economic impact of the dwindling population.
China is also eyeing a progressive, flexible and differentiated route to raise the retirement age.
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