BEIJING, China — China has decided to make it permissible for couples to have a third child in order to avoid a demographic catastrophe that may jeopardize the country’s ambitions for increasing wealth and global influence.
China has rigorously limited most couples to one child since the 1980s, a regulation enforced with threats of penalties or job loss, resulting in abuses such as forced abortions. Parents killed infant girls because they preferred males, resulting in a severe sex imbalance.
China has long hailed its one-child policy as a success, claiming that it has prevented 400 million more births in the world’s most populated country, therefore conserving resources and boosting economic growth.
However, China’s birth rate was already declining before the one-child policy, mirroring trends in South Korea, Thailand, and other Asian nations. According to the World Bank, the average number of children per mother fell from above six in the 1960s to below three by 1980.
According to statistics, 12 million infants were born last year, down 18% from 14.6 million in 2019.
The change to the two-child rule resulted in a short increase in births, but the impact quickly faded, and overall births continued to decline as many women chose not to have kids.
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress suspended the imposition of fines for violating previous limits and advocated for more parental leave and childcare services during its meeting on Friday. The amendment said that new measures in finance, taxation, education, housing, and employment should be implemented to “reduce the burden on families.”
While female participation in the labor market is strong, women, particularly those with children, are underrepresented at higher levels, with just 8.4% of central and provincial leadership posts held by women. Only 11% of the young party leaders who will assume the reins in the next decades are female.