Three-child policy: China lifts cap on births in major policy shift - cash bonuses, parental leave being considered in Guangdong province

[Pathfinder]

May 31, 2021
9:15 AM CST

China
Three-child policy: China lifts cap on births in major policy shift

David StanwayTony Munroe

3 minute read

Married Chinese couples may have up to three children, China announced on Monday, in a major shift from the existing limit of two after recent data showed a dramatic decline in births in the world's most populous country.

Beijing scrapped its decades-old one-child policy in 2016, replacing it with a two-child limit to try and stave off risks to its economy from a rapidly aging population. But that failed to result in a sustained surge in births given the high cost of raising children in Chinese cities, a challenge that persiststo this day.

The policy change will come with "supportive measures, which will be conducive to improving our country's population structure, fulfilling the country's strategy of actively coping with an ageing population", the official Xinhua news agency said following a politburo meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping.
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https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-says-each-couple-can-have-three-children-change-policy-2021-05-31/

[sharon sanders]

Guangdong Health Commission replied "Improve the willingness to bear children": Cash subsidies need to be demonstrated and explore parental leave


According to the news on the website of the Guangdong Provincial Health Commission on June 29, the Guangdong Provincial Health Commission issued a letter to Xia Huimin, deputy to the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress on June 27, on the “Response to the Proposal No. 1303 of the Fourth Session of the Thirteenth People’s Congress of Guangdong Province”. , Recommendations on increasing the willingness of childbearing couples to have children are received. The implementation of other cash subsidies besides maternity allowances requires overall consideration of the local financial status, economic and social development level and affordability, and further research calculations and policy demonstrations. The Guangdong Provincial Health Commission will continue to strengthen in-depth research on this issue and actively communicate and negotiate with relevant departments.
In the next step, the Guangdong Provincial Health Commission will also work with human resources and social security departments to comprehensively supervise employers to implement the maternity leave, reward leave and paternity leave stipulated by laws and regulations, and learn from good domestic and foreign experience and practices, and gradually Explore holidays such as parental leave to provide a good social environment for the masses to give birth.
The Guangdong Provincial Health Commission replied to Representative Xia Huimin after integrating the opinions of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education, the Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, the Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Provincial Taxation Bureau, and the Provincial Women’s Federation.
(1) Regarding cash subsidies. The cash subsidy given to families that give birth to children is to use economic means to alleviate the family’s economic worries and pressures and stimulate the willingness to bear children. It reflects the realistic voice of some families, and there are also international cases. At this stage, our province has established a complete maternity insurance system. The maternity insurance costs are paid by the employer. Employees are entitled to maternity insurance benefits for childbirth, including maternity medical expenses and maternity allowances, prenatal examination costs, hospital delivery, surgery, hospitalization, The medical expenses for medicine, diagnosis and treatment of pregnancy complications, complications and other reproductive medical expenses are all paid by the maternity insurance fund, realizing the medical expenses protection from pregnancy to childbirth and postpartum. As for the implementation of other cash subsidies in addition to maternity allowances, it is necessary to make overall consideration of the financial situation, economic and social development level and affordability of each region, and do further research calculations and policy demonstrations. Our committee will continue to strengthen in-depth research on this issue, and actively communicate and negotiate with relevant departments.
(2) With regard to providing preferential tax policies in favor of two-child families. In 2018, my country revised the individual income tax law. On the basis of raising the basic deduction standard, special additional deductions such as support for the elderly and continuing education were set up. From the perspective of supporting families to reduce their children’s education tax burden, each Expenses related to children receiving full-time academic education will be deducted in accordance with the standard of 1,000 yuan per month; children who are at the stage of pre-school education before entering elementary school after the age of 3 are subject to the above regulations. If families with children aged 0-3 are included in the tax deduction, the current policy needs to be adjusted. According to the current regulations on tax management authority, in addition to the specific policy management authority delegated to local governments by relevant tax laws and regulations, the tax policy management authority is concentrated in the central government, and sub-provincial authorities have no right to formulate preferential tax policies. The taxation department will collect relevant information and demands and report to the higher authorities.
(3) Regarding the promulgation of maternity leave policies that encourage childbirth. At present, the maternity leave of employees in our province is mainly composed of two parts. One is that female employees are entitled to 98 days of maternity leave under the "Special Provisions on Labor Protection for Female Employees", and the maternity leave for dystocia or multiple births has increased correspondingly; The Family Planning Regulations grants 80 days of incentive leave for female employees who comply with the family planning policy and 15 days of paternity leave for their spouses, plus paid leave based on working years. Employee vacations not only involve the issues of employee remuneration and enterprise labor costs, but also the impact of vacancies on production and operations. With the development of the economy and society, the implementation of a more flexible maternity leave system has a positive effect on solving the practical difficulties of employees in childcare and promoting harmony between the family and the society. In the next step, our committee will work with human resources and social security departments to fully supervise and urge employers to implement maternity leave, reward leave and paternity leave stipulated by laws and regulations, learn from good domestic and foreign experience and practices, and gradually explore parental leave, etc. Holidays provide a good social environment for the people to give birth.
(4) Regarding the protection of women's employment rights and career development. my country attaches great importance to the protection of women’s labor and employment rights. The Labor Law, the Employment Promotion Law, the Social Insurance Law, the Women’s Rights Protection Law, and the Special Provisions on the Labor Protection of Female Workers together constitute a legal and regulatory system that protects women’s labor rights. , Stipulates that female employees enjoy equal employment rights, and stipulates the protection of female employees during pregnancy, the time of maternity leave, and maternity treatment. The province's human resources and social security, the Women's Federation and other departments earnestly implement their work responsibilities to protect the legitimate rights and interests of women. One is to actively protect women's fair employment rights. Strictly implement the provisions of guaranteeing women’s equal employment rights and opposing gender discrimination, establish a joint working mechanism, and promptly investigate and correct gender-based discrimination in employment; establish a new monitoring mechanism that includes behaviors that damage women’s equal employment rights and interests in the labor security social credit system. Discriminatory employers conduct interviews to create a good social environment for women’s employment. The second is to increase employment policy support. Women equally enjoy all kinds of employment support policies in our province. Women participate in vocational training, and female college students can enjoy corresponding subsidies when they go to the grassroots for employment and participate in employment internships. Lower the minimum age limit for women with employment difficulties. Develop jobs suitable for women's employment, and promote women's local employment. The third is to increase employment service assistance. Laid-off and unemployed women enjoy various employment services for free; a "green channel" for job hunting has been opened, and "one-to-one" and "one-to-one" employment tracking services are provided. Employers who hire female laborers in difficulty can enjoy social insurance subsidies, job subsidies and other policies. The fourth is to effectively protect the rights and interests of female employees on rest and vacation. Strictly implement the paid annual leave system for employees and work related to labor protection for female employees, guide employers to establish a management system for employees' rest and vacation, actively carry out supervision and inspection, and guarantee the rights of employees, especially female employees, to rest and vacation.
Regarding the next work plan, the Guangdong Provincial Health Commission stated in its reply letter that on May 31 this year, the Political Bureau of the Central Committee held a meeting to listen to reports on major policies and measures to actively respond to population aging during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, and to review the "Regarding Optimization The Decision of the Fertility Policy to Promote the Long-term Balanced Development of the Population" proposes to further optimize the fertility policy, implement the policy that a couple can have three children and supporting measures. In accordance with the deployment of the central government, our province will strengthen overall planning, policy coordination and work implementation, organize and implement the three-child birth policy in accordance with the law, promote the connection of the birth policy and related economic and social policies, improve the birth support system, and effectively reduce the birth, nurturing, and education of the masses. Cost, promote the long-term balanced development of the population.


zhttps://new.qq.com/omn/20210630/20210630A02I1H00.html

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