National legislature of China formally endorsed the three-child policy that was mooted by ruling Communist Party.
Key points
- According to the Chinese officials, one-child policy that was implemented for over three decades has prevented around 400 million births.
- Third child policy is a major policy shift which is aimed at preventing a steep decline in birth rates in the most populous country of world (China).
- This revised Population and Family Planning Law allows Chinese couples to have three children. It was passed by Standing Committee of National People’s Congress (NPC).
- The amended law also passed more social and economic support measures in order to address the concerns of reluctance of Chinese couples to have more Children because of mounting costs.
- This law stipulates that, China will take supportive measures, including in finances, taxes, education, insurance, housing and employment in order to reduce burdens of families, cost of raising and educating children.
Background
In May 2021, ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) approved a relaxation of strict two-child policy and allowed all couples to have up to three children.
Two Child Policy
China had permitted all couples to have up to two children in 2016 by scrapping the decades-old one-child policy. This policy is considered as a demographic crisis by policymakers in China. One-child policy was in force for over three decades which has prevented more than 400 million births.
Why third child policy was approved?
This decision was taken following the census data that showed that population in China grew at the slowest pace to 1.412 billion. According to new census figures, demographic crisis was expected to deepen because population of people above 60 years increased by 18.7% to 264 million.