Family planning policy changes mooted

• Source: Global Times
• [10:22 June 24 2010]
• Comments

A father pushes his young child through the Expo Park Wednesday. Debate has been sparked over whether Shanghai should loosen its family planning rules to offset the city's low birthrate and aging population. Photo: AFP

By Zhou Ping

Shanghai's aging population and low birthrate mean that family planning and second-child regulations in the city should be revised, the director of the Shanghai Municipal Population and Family Planning Commission said at a recent government meeting.

The director, Xie Lingli, said that senior citizens over 60 with a Shanghai hukou (household registration) are expected to account for 28.1 percent of the total population in 2015, while Shanghai's total fertility rate in 2009 was around half that of the whole of China and under a third that of the international rate.

Xie previously said in 2009 that families who are qualified to have a second child should be encouraged to do so to tackle the city's aging population problem, although she later said that the government would not be taking such action.

"Although there has been much discussion in the media about the possibility of family planning policies being loosened, we are still required by the district family planning office to strictly enforce the policy," a director surnamed Mao at the family planning department in Anting town in Jiading district told the Global Times Wednesday. "Our job can be made difficult by such media reports, as many residents argue that the reports mean the policy has loosened," she added.

Under the national family planning policy, couples who are not exempt from the policy and have more than one child face a one-off fine of up to six times their annual income. Those exempt from the regulations, such as couples who are the only child in their respective families, are allowed to have a second child without being penalized.

One expert said that, while the core policy is unlikely to be altered by local authorities, they may still do more to increase the birthrate in the city.

"I think authorities will not loosen the family planning policy, since it's settled in the latest government five-year plan," Wang Daben, an associate professor at the Population Research Institute of East China Normal University, said. "However, I think Shanghai can take measures to encourage those who are qualified to have two children to do so, in order to improve the current imbalanced population structure. For example, by canceling pre-school fees, which are as high as university fees."

Meanwhile, some residents who thought loosening the one-child policy is unnecessary said that they would consider having a second child if the associated costs were not so high.

"I did think about having two children, but decided against it due to the high costs involved," Xu Min, a worker at a local public relations company who is eligible to have two children, told the Global Times Wednesday.

"I think it doesn't matter if the policy itself is loosened, as people who want to have more than one child will do so by any means," Xu added.

"I don't think it's a good idea to loosen the family planning policy," Zhang Youxue, a lecturer at Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times Wednesday. "Having too large a population means more pollution and cheap labor force. Shanghai can tackle the aging problem by introducing talents from other provinces."

However, Zhang admitted that she would have more than one child if policies were loosened. "There's a lot of advantages to having two children," she said. "Children will be under less pressure to support their parents and will learn to share with each other at an early age."