China offering benefits to women for having more babies amid 'severe' demographic crisis

China is now offering incentives including tax and housing credits, educational benefits and even money to encourage women across the nation to have more children in a bid to expand its population and improve the country's labour force. According to an ANI report, some would-be parents find it challenging to start a family because of the restrictions over childbirth and the oppression of women's rights. Meanwhile, as a part of its one-child policy, the Communist regime forcibly sterilised and aborted women for many years. And due to this, the country is currently undergoing a demographic crisis and wants women to have multiple children, ideally three. 

As per a Global Times report in January of this year, the Chinese mainland had 1.413 billion people by the end of 2021, and there were 10.62 million fewer infants there than there were deaths. 

Meanwhile, currently, Chinese government authorities have been offering tax and housing credits, rewards for schooling and even financial incentives to convince women to have more children, as per a New York Times report. However, it is pertinent to note that only married couples are eligible for the aforestated benefits. 

Single Chinese women face difficulties in accessing social services

Despite this, Beijing continues to restrict who is allowed to have children and discriminate against single women, minorities, and other groups through harsh family planning laws. 

According to the New York Times report, single-parent babies in China have traditionally had difficulty accessing social services like schooling and health insurance. Public health care, as well as insurance that provides maternity leave, are frequently refused to pregnant single Chinese women. If their employers terminate them because they are pregnant, they are not legally protected. 

Sarah Gao, a single parent who is 46 years old, said, "Many people think that being a single mom is a process of confrontation with public opinion, but it’s not". Gao had to tell her doctors a lie, by saying that her husband was abroad when she discovered she was pregnant in order to be hospitalised, New York Times reported.  

Gao continued by describing how she was terminated from her job in 2016 after giving birth to a daughter, which prompted her to file a complaint charging the corporation with employment discrimination. As per media reports, her unmarried birth "did not conform to China's national policy," the Chinese court had ruled. 

Birth rate declines in China

In the meantime, media reports state that Wuhu, a city in eastern China, has seen an abnormally low level of births. As the number of young people in China is decreasing, if birth rates keep falling, the labour force will likewise drastically shrink in the following years, ANI reported.  

In addition to this, Beijing passed a new Population and Family Planning Law last year, reportedly in response to Chinese couples' reluctance to have more children owing to escalating costs. This law permits Chinese couples to have three children. 

(Image: AP/ Unsplash)