China province Sichuan will allow unmarried to raise children legally 

As part of a national drive to increase the birth rate in the nation, a province of more than 80 million people in China will ease limits on unmarried individuals having children and remove birth cap limits.

The government prohibits unmarried women from becoming mothers, but as marriage and birth rates have fallen to historically low in recent years, regional authorities have amended a law from 2019 to include unmarried people who want to become parents.

On Monday Sichuan’s health commissioned has announced that it will allow people to register births with the provincial government from 15 February, where it will remove all the limits on the registration of birth for any parents. 

Measures to boost the Population

Sichuan’s health commission stated that the measure aims to “promote long-term and balanced population development,” on it’s website. 

Earlier only married couple were allowed to register with the local authority, who wanted to have up to two children. 

Authorities offer incentives to parents

China’s population shrank last year for the first time in six decades, a historic turn expected to usher in a period of decline.

Last year for the first time in six decades china’s population shrank, it was a historic turn expected to usher in a period of decline, to deal with this situation authorities has offered incentives to parents. 

Authorities are being driven by this possibility to implement incentives and population-boosting measures.

A national programme that requires couples to register with their local governments ensures that maternity insurance will pay for medical expenses while allowing married women to keep their jobs while on maternity leave.

Government statistics reveal that Sichuan, which ranks seventh in the nation for the percentage of its population older than 60, or more than 21 percent, will now be able to get these benefits if they are unmarried men and women.

Major Gender imbalance in Chinese society. 

Chinese society has a significant gender imbalance as an outcome of the preference for having male children after decades of a severe one-child policy that included financial fines and forced abortions and was only abandoned in 2016. 

Young people are refraining from getting married and starting families more frequently because to the high expense of living, the lack of social mobility, the growing demands of the workplace, and social expectations placed on women.

According to Yi Fuxian, an expert on China’s population changes and a researcher  at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the marriage requirement was related to the previous birth restrictions, which made sure that only one child (or later, two or three children) could be born to one man and one woman.

Now there is no need to require marriage because it is equivalent to entirely eliminating the [limit]. Respect for illegitimate reproductive rights, but not at the expense of promoting illegitimate births, he added, noting that in east Asia, having children outside of marriage was still a rarity.

Government is taking measures 

Reproduction policies do not explicitly ban unmarried women to have children, but to avail free services like parental healthcare, a mother’s salary during maternity leave and job protection often require proof of marriage. 

Those who wish to register a birth outside of marriage often pay heavy fines, In order to obtain a hukou- china’ crucial household registration which provides access to education and social services to children.

To encourage more individuals to have children, the Chinese government has been enacting an increasing number of laws and programmes. In 2022, the country’s population fell for the first time in 60 years. Fewer people of working age are supported by the government’s social programmes as a result of an ageing population, which is a major source of concern for the government.

According to government statistics, Sichuan has more than 21% of its population, or the seventh-highest percentage, over the age of 60. The province is one of many that has attempted a variety of birth-increasing incentives. In July 2021, it started giving parents of second or third children—up until the kids are three—monthly allowances.

How are people responding in the province? 

While sharing and discussing the Sichuan amendment 10 million people’s reaction was varied. Some people believe that these measures failed to address existing concerns about house prices while others questioned the extramarital affairs and whether it would affect illegal surrogacy. 

The policy was criticised by some as being desperate to increase the birth rate. one of them said, “Let’s think about whether or not to have children.”After reforming the educational and healthcare systems.

Some were in favour of the rule. “If there are marriage restrictions, forcing two people to get married and then getting divorced after a long time is a mess! It is much less complicated and respects reproductive freedom under this policy.