Out-of-wedlock births singled out for fines
Source: Agencies |
June 4, 2013, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A CITY'S plan to fine mothers who have a child out of wedlock has sparked criticism that the policy is discriminatory and could lead to an increase in abandoned babies.
One expert said yesterday that it was the first time that out-of-wedlock children had been expressly singled out for penalties. It also came just days after the rescue of a young unmarried mother's newborn from a sewer pipe in eastern China prompted discussion over the stigma that single mothers face.
"If the policy is approved, there could be more 'sewer babies,' because when mothers can't afford the cost, they might think about throwing their babies away," said Chen Yaya, a gender equality researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
Last Friday, the government of Wuhan City in central Hubei Province published online a draft updated family planning policy which it says is aimed at keeping the city's birth rate low. The policy says that "the parties" should pay the fee in cases of births out of wedlock or when one side knowingly has a child with someone who has a spouse. It has been interpreted as mainly targeting unmarried mothers and women who have affairs with married men.
"It looks like the policy is targeted just at women from my understanding," Chen said. She said unmarried mothers already faced discrimination, including being barred from receiving maternity benefits from the government.
In the case of a baby boy found in the sewer in Zhejiang Province on May 25, his mother told police she got pregnant after a brief affair and couldn't afford an abortion. She said she hid her pregnancy from family and neighbors and had concerns about whether she would be able to raise the child.
Police also said she told them the baby slipped into the sewer accidentally shortly after its birth - an account they later said they accepted.
Wuhan's proposed rule would be the first time that bearing a child when unmarried has been spelled out as a separate offense, said Yuan Xin, a professor of population studies at Renmin University.
Babies resulting from an unmarried relationship or an affair with someone who is already married will provoke a "social compensation fee," an official at Wuhan's family planning committee said yesterday.
The fee depends on each province and Hubei's is set at three times the province's average annual disposable income. Also, the children are denied education and health benefits.
One expert said yesterday that it was the first time that out-of-wedlock children had been expressly singled out for penalties. It also came just days after the rescue of a young unmarried mother's newborn from a sewer pipe in eastern China prompted discussion over the stigma that single mothers face.
"If the policy is approved, there could be more 'sewer babies,' because when mothers can't afford the cost, they might think about throwing their babies away," said Chen Yaya, a gender equality researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
Last Friday, the government of Wuhan City in central Hubei Province published online a draft updated family planning policy which it says is aimed at keeping the city's birth rate low. The policy says that "the parties" should pay the fee in cases of births out of wedlock or when one side knowingly has a child with someone who has a spouse. It has been interpreted as mainly targeting unmarried mothers and women who have affairs with married men.
"It looks like the policy is targeted just at women from my understanding," Chen said. She said unmarried mothers already faced discrimination, including being barred from receiving maternity benefits from the government.
In the case of a baby boy found in the sewer in Zhejiang Province on May 25, his mother told police she got pregnant after a brief affair and couldn't afford an abortion. She said she hid her pregnancy from family and neighbors and had concerns about whether she would be able to raise the child.
Police also said she told them the baby slipped into the sewer accidentally shortly after its birth - an account they later said they accepted.
Wuhan's proposed rule would be the first time that bearing a child when unmarried has been spelled out as a separate offense, said Yuan Xin, a professor of population studies at Renmin University.
Babies resulting from an unmarried relationship or an affair with someone who is already married will provoke a "social compensation fee," an official at Wuhan's family planning committee said yesterday.
The fee depends on each province and Hubei's is set at three times the province's average annual disposable income. Also, the children are denied education and health benefits.
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