More support for families required

Deputies call for easing of financial burden on couples with a second child

A top health and population expert has dismissed the suggestion of government subsidies for families raising a second-child, saying systematic policies targeting family development would work better.

Wang Guoqiang, vice-minister of the Health and Family Planning Commission and also a member of the CPPCC National Committee, said on Sunday that China still lacks family-oriented policies that support harmonious development.

"Families are the country's smallest economic units, so government policies targeting them will be better in the long run, improving family and social harmony as well," he said.

Yuan Xin, a professor at Nankai University in Tianjin, agreed: "Such policies are urgently needed, particularly with the advent of the new second-child policy, which aims to boost the fertility rate and reverse existing demographic challenges such as a rapidly aging and dwindling workforce," he said.

After the country's top decision-makers endorsed the universal second-child policy, introduced in January last year, the affordability of having a larger family has become a major concern for many couples, regional surveys have found. This has sparked suggestions, from some deputies and members of the two sessions, that the government should offer parents a financial incentive.

In thisway, the government could reward couples for expanding their family, He Youlin, former principal of the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Secondary School in Zhongshan, Guangdong province and also an NPC deputy, told Beijing News.

For Yuan, however, "money alone cannot solve all the problems that will keep emerging as the child grows up".

Instead, he suggested a series of systematic family development policies, covering aspects such as financial support, the supply of caregivers, the provision of healthcare and education resources, employment rights protection for women having a second child and favorable taxation policies for families with more than one child.

Currently, the majority of public policies and social security programs in China, including public health insurance and taxation, are based on individual, rather than family unit. To counter this, He suggested the government could exempt eligible couples from income tax or cover the fees for maternal checkups, while increasing education and other subsidies.

Ma Xu, head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission's Scientific and Technological Research Institute and also an NPC deputy, told Beijing News the government is considering addressing the financial concerns of parents who want to have a second-child, through the provision of insurance.

Couples who have two children can face even greater pressure if they also have to support aging parents, according to Zhu Yuzi, who works at Muruai, a voluntary group that promotes breast feeding in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. "If the government does not provide more support for these families, such as through preferential tax policies or care for seniors, many people may think twice and choose not to have a second child," she said.

Contact the writers at shanjuan@chinadaily.com.cn