On August 8, 2022, the official website of Longwan District Government of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province updated a message saying that Longwan District is planning to issue a monthly childcare subsidy of 500 yuan to each child for "second-child families" and a monthly childcare subsi

On May 31, 2021, in Wuhan, Hubei, people took their children to play in the community square. (People's Vision/Photo)

On August 8, 2022, the official website of Longwan District Government of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province updated a message saying that Longwan District is planning to issue a monthly childcare subsidy of 500 yuan to each child for "second-child families" and a monthly childcare subsidy of 1,000 yuan to each child for "three-child families" until they are 3 years old.

A few days before Wenzhou Longwan District announced this plan, Changsha also issued a document stating that each child with three children and above can enjoy a one-time parenting subsidy of 10,000 yuan.

uses "paying money for giving birth" to encourage children not only in Wenzhou Longwan District and Changsha City. In 2021, Panzhihua City, Sichuan Province, Linze County, Gansu Province, and Qitaihe City, Heilongjiang Province have all issued policies to directly subsidize the families of mothers.

Since the launch of the "Single Two-Child" policy at the end of 2013, China's population policy has been continuously adjusted. The "two-child policy for universal children" was implemented in 2016, and the "three children" was liberalized in 2021.

In order to encourage childbirth, various places have successively introduced supporting measures. From increasing maternity leave, building universal childcare institutions, to directly "paying money", efforts are constantly upgrading.

Many places implemented the "give money" policy

After the implementation of the three-child policy, Panzhihua, Sichuan Province, took the lead in introducing the "give money to give birth to children".

On July 28, 2021, Panzhihua City announced the "Sixteen Policy Measures on Promoting the Aggregation of Human Resources". Each child will receive a monthly child of 500 yuan in parenting subsidy until the age of 3 years old for Panzhihua households who have two or three children. Southern Metropolis Daily reported that Panzhihua is the first city in the country to "pay money with babies".

Relevant staff of the Panzhihua Municipal Health Commission told the Southern Weekend reporter that according to the city's policies, relevant regulations have been made on the social security payment status of couples who apply for childcare subsidies and whether they have adopted children.

According to the seventh national census data released by the Panzhihua Municipal Bureau of Statistics, the city's permanent population is about 1.21 million, a decrease of 1,918 people compared with 2010, a decrease of 0.16%.

In the past decade, although the population of Panzhihua has not decreased much, the proportion of Panzhihua's population aged 60 and above has risen to 19.76%.

Also facing population pressure is Linze County, Gansu, a small town in the northwest. According to the results of the "Seven Generals", the population of Linze County is 138,300, a decrease of about 7.9% from 2013.

In September 2021, Linze County proposed to issue maternity allowances and childcare subsidies to mothers. Linze County is under the jurisdiction of Zhangye City. Staff from Zhangye Municipal Government Service Center introduced Linze County’s subsidy policy to reporters on the Southern Weekend: Linze registered permanent mothers who have one, second and third children in public medical institutions in Linze County are given one-time maternity allowances of 2,000 yuan, 3,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan respectively. Linze permanent households who have second or third children in public medical institutions in Linze County will be given a childcare subsidy of 5,000 yuan to the second child every year, and a childcare subsidy of 10,000 yuan to the third child every year until the child is three years old. Linze permanent high-risk pregnant women who need to give birth in a tertiary hospital can enjoy the same policy.

Information on the website of Linze County Finance Bureau shows that by April 2022, Linze County Finance Bureau has timely allocated 1.179 million yuan of subsidies for 176 mothers identified by the health and health department in accordance with the standards, including 680,000 yuan in childcare subsidies and 499,000 yuan in maternity allowances. The subsidy for

is even greater in Qitaihe, Heilongjiang. Not only does it have a one-time subsidy and monthly parenting allowance, but it will also be given a job subsidy if the parents of newborns do not have a job.

The population situation in Qitaihe is also more serious. According to the "Seven-Public" data, the permanent population of Qitaihe City is less than 690,000, making it the smallest prefecture-level city in Heilongjiang. The population birth rate of Heilongjiang Province, where Qitaihe is located, is 3.59‰, ranking at the bottom in the country.

Staff from Qitaihe Municipal Health Commission introduced that if both spouses are registered in Qitaihe, or if they are judged to live in Qitaihe for a long time based on social security payment, a one-time subsidy of 20,000 yuan for the third child born after November 20, 2021 and a monthly childcare subsidy of 1,000 yuan to the child's 3 years old. If neither parent of the child has a job, a one-time subsidy of 500 yuan and a 600 yuan bus travel subsidy of 3 years old will be provided annually to the child's 3 years old; a one-time subsidy of 10,000 yuan for the second child born after June 1, 2022.

The staff member said that Qitaihe City’s policy of encouraging childbirth is very strong. Even if only one spouse is registered with Qitaihe, the policy can be enjoyed, but the subsidies must be reduced by half, and remarried couples can also enjoy certain subsidies for childbirth.

The staff member told the Southern Weekend reporter that Qitaihe implemented the three-child subsidy policy on November 20, 2021. By December 31 of that year, a total of 11 families met the subsidy conditions.

encouragement measures are constantly "upgraded"

The obvious adjustment of the population policy began in 2013. In December of that year, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed a resolution to implement the "single two-child policy".

However, at that time, few places introduced measures to encourage childbirth. Some provinces expected that the number of births would increase in a short period of time, and also restricted the interval between giving birth to two children. However, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, China's newborn population increased by only 470,000 in 2014 compared with 2013. After the implementation of the

policy on two-child policy, the number of supporting policies to encourage birth control has increased, and the signal is quite obvious.

Xining, Hubei Province extended the maternity leave of the second child to 6 months in 2018. Relevant incentive measures also include: Comply with the policy, the second child can reduce and exempt the childcare fee when attending kindergartens, and the second child family can enjoy subsidies for buying a house, and the provident fund housing loans and withdrawals are relaxed.

According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, four years after the implementation of the universal two-child policy, the national fertility level and birth population have not improved as expected. The total number of births in 2019 was 14.65 million, more than five million less than the predicted figure. The birth rate in 2019 was 10.48‰, the lowest since 1949.

According to the "Seven Public" data, the national birth population in 2020 was 12 million, and the total fertility rate of women of childbearing age in the country was 1.3, which is already at a low level. The number of women of childbearing age continues to decrease, and the "second child" effect gradually weakens.

On August 20, 2021, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed a decision that a couple can have three children. After the implementation of the three-child policy of

, Beijing, Hebei, Zhejiang, Henan, Shandong, Hunan, Chongqing and other places have further introduced supporting measures to encourage childbirth. The policies are mainly divided into two aspects: building universal childcare institutions and housing purchase discounts.

Chongqing proposes that by 2025, the city will support the construction of no less than 10,000 universal housing units. For families with second and third-child household registration in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, you can get a maximum of 50,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan in housing purchase subsidies respectively.

The measure of directly "paying money" to the mother's family is more radical.

Wenzhou Longwan: Brewing a differentiated personal income tax policy

Entering 2022, more and more places are using "paying money" to encourage childbirth.

First, Feng County, Shaanxi Province was the first to issue a plan in the province in June, stipulating that from June 1, 2022, any permanent resident mother in Feng County who has a second or third child and whose newborn has registered in Feng County will be given a one-time birth subsidy reward of 3,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan respectively.

Next, in August 2022, the Changsha Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government issued the "Work Plan on Optimizing the Population Policy to Promote the Long-term Balanced Development of the Population". Local households with three or more children in accordance with the law can enjoy a one-time parenting subsidy of 10,000 yuan per child; for local households with two or more children in accordance with the law, one house purchase indicator will be added.

A staff member of the Changsha Municipal Health Commission emphasized in an interview with a reporter from Southern Weekend that the policy is only for those born after the document is released. In addition, remarried families can only enjoy the policy if they have three children or more children who have been together after remarriage.

At present, Longwan District, Wenzhou City is also studying the document "giving birth to a baby and sending money". According to media reports, the Longwan District Health Bureau of Wenzhou City said in a letter replying to the district’s CPPCC members that Longwan District is formulating the “Implementation Plan for Longwan District to Accelerate the Construction of a Parent-Friendly and Promote Long-term Balanced Population Development.”

According to the plan, Longwan District plans to issue standard documents on the issuance of childcare subsidies, and provide childcare subsidies to families with eligible second and third children. The second child is given a monthly childcare subsidy of 500 yuan, and the third child is given a monthly childcare subsidy of 1,000 yuan until the age of 3.Compared with the practice of only "paying money", Longwan District also expressed its need to actively explore differentiated personal income tax policies for families with second and third children, and implement the inclusion of infant care services for under 3 years old in the special additional deduction for personal income tax.

Although this reply letter is still on the government web page list, it is no longer possible to click to view the details. A staff member of the Longwan District Health Bureau said in an interview with a reporter from Southern Weekend that the plan has not been announced to the public yet, "it is still in the planning stage. The specific date of issuance, the specific amount, application qualification and method have not been determined, and the plan may not be finally passed."

However, according to the Wenzhou Municipal Government Work Report released in April 2022, Wenzhou’s eight key tasks in 2022 include “creating a child-friendly environment and promoting the implementation of the three-child birth policy and supporting measures.”

Southern Weekend Reporter Zhai Xingli Southern Weekend Intern Qiu Yunuo