China approves three-child policy; sops announced
China's national legislature on Friday formally endorsed the three-child policy mooted by the ruling Communist Party, in a major policy shift aimed to prevent a steep decline in birth rates in the world's most populous country. The revised Population and Family Planning Law, which allows Chinese couples to have three children, was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).
Amended law has also passed more social, economic support measures
In an apparent attempt to address the reluctance of the Chinese couples to have more children due to mounting costs, the amended law has also passed more social and economic support measures to address the concerns.
Here is what the new law says
The new law stipulates that the country will take supportive measures, including those in finances, taxes, insurance, education, housing and employment, to reduce the cost of raising and educating children, China Daily reported. "The NPC has revised the law to implement the central leadership's decision to cope with new circumstances in social and economic development and promote balanced long-term population growth," it added.
China had passed two-child policy in 2016
In May this year, the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) approved a relaxation of its strict two-child policy to allow all couples to have up to three children. China permitted all couples to have two children in 2016, scrapping the draconian decades-old one-child policy which policymakers blame for the demographic crisis in the country.
One-child policy prevented over 400mn births: Chinese officials
Chinese officials claim that the one-child policy implemented for over three decades has prevented over 400 million births. The decision to permit the third child came after this month's once-in-a-decade census showed that China's population grew at the slowest pace to 1.412 billion amid official projections that the decline may begin as early as next year.
China's demographic crisis is expected to deepen as per census
The new census figures revealed that the demographic crisis China faced was expected to deepen as the population of people above 60 years grew to 264 million, up by 18.7% last year.
