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Little county skips on one-child policy
By Li Xinran |
February 9, 2009, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WHILE the one-child policy applied to most of China, couples in a small county in the country's north have been able to have two children since 1985, China Newsweek reported last week.
Residents in Yicheng County, Shanxi Province, were allowed to have two children from 1985 by the National Population and Family Planning Commission as part of a test for the central government to consider the feasibility to adapt its current family planning policy.
The relaxation of the policy was only for Yicheng couples who married at least three years later than the legal marriage age ?? 22 for men and 20 for women. They could have their second child when the wife reached about 30 years of age.
But the birth rate of the county, whose farmers account for 78 percent of the population, has been less that 1 percent since 2000. It also accounts for less of the province's population than it did in 1985.
Many couples gave up the right to have a second child because of the expense.
Yicheng farmer Chang Maozhong had two daughters but his eldest, who has married, only wants to have one child.
Most of the country's farmers worried about their future when the one-child policy was implemented as they could not enjoy pensions or advanced medical facilities like urban residents could.
Many of them risked paying fines to have a second or even a third child, which caused the growth to jump shortly after the policy was implemented in 1980.
However, China's current birth rate is about 1 percent, much lower than the world average. Family planning policy has been eased in some provinces because China will see a steady decrease in the working-age population over the next few decades, as the population ages.
China's current family planning policy limits most urban couples to one child and most rural couples to two.
A second child is allowed only if the first one is disabled or both the husband and wife are only children.
Eligible parents in several provinces including Shanxi and Hubei can have a second child whenever they like, as governments have lifted rules about compulsory intervals.
Residents in Yicheng County, Shanxi Province, were allowed to have two children from 1985 by the National Population and Family Planning Commission as part of a test for the central government to consider the feasibility to adapt its current family planning policy.
The relaxation of the policy was only for Yicheng couples who married at least three years later than the legal marriage age ?? 22 for men and 20 for women. They could have their second child when the wife reached about 30 years of age.
But the birth rate of the county, whose farmers account for 78 percent of the population, has been less that 1 percent since 2000. It also accounts for less of the province's population than it did in 1985.
Many couples gave up the right to have a second child because of the expense.
Yicheng farmer Chang Maozhong had two daughters but his eldest, who has married, only wants to have one child.
Most of the country's farmers worried about their future when the one-child policy was implemented as they could not enjoy pensions or advanced medical facilities like urban residents could.
Many of them risked paying fines to have a second or even a third child, which caused the growth to jump shortly after the policy was implemented in 1980.
However, China's current birth rate is about 1 percent, much lower than the world average. Family planning policy has been eased in some provinces because China will see a steady decrease in the working-age population over the next few decades, as the population ages.
China's current family planning policy limits most urban couples to one child and most rural couples to two.
A second child is allowed only if the first one is disabled or both the husband and wife are only children.
Eligible parents in several provinces including Shanxi and Hubei can have a second child whenever they like, as governments have lifted rules about compulsory intervals.
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