China’s top health authority has confirmed that all citizens can now have a third child, after the major policy shift was announced on May 31.
The health commission said couples must register with their local authorities and they will be able to get the documents needed once the amendment is passed, according to the report on Tuesday. Mothers having a third child will be entitled to 98 days of maternity leave.
The country will allow a couple to have three children, and the government will no longer fine couples who have more babies.
How many children an individual has will no longer be taken into account when he or she registers a household, enrolls in school, or applies for a job.
China will improve public services related to family planning, particularly for raising children and caring for the elderly, and it will enhance demographic data collection and forecasts.
The declining birth rate prompted Beijing to ease its birth control policy in 2016, in a bid to avoid a significant economic slowdown from its rapidly ageing population. But the birth rate continues to drop. China’s latest census data released in May shows the population grew in 2020, but the number of new births fell for a fourth consecutive year. Some 12 million babies were born, down from 14.65 million in 2019 – an 18 per cent year-on-year decline in a continued slide to a near six-decade low.
The government this month said it expected a reduction in the workforce by about 35 million people in the next five years.
