Encourage fertility by trying to enhance childcare services

2023-04-17

According to media reports, recently, Shenyang Municipal Health Commission and other departments issued relevant plans, clearly proposing that for local registered residence families with three children born by both husband and wife in accordance with the law, 500 yuan of childcare subsidies will be paid every month until the child is 3 years old. Subsequently, the Harbin Municipal Health Commission also publicly solicited opinions from the society on the policy of providing childcare subsidies. It plans to provide a monthly childcare subsidy of 500 yuan to eligible families with two children, and a monthly childcare subsidy of 1000 yuan to families with three or more children, until the child reaches the age of three. In order to boost the willingness to have children, various regions have been continuously increasing their policies to encourage childbirth. Previously, multiple provinces such as Zhejiang and Hunan have issued documents clearly proposing the establishment of a childcare subsidy system. Encourage frequent updates of fertility policies in various regions, sending clear and positive signals to society. The logic behind the development of cash subsidies as a public policy to encourage childbearing is not difficult to understand. Since children under the age of 3 have not yet received preschool education, this means that families bear a heavy burden of care during this period. Providing genuine gold and silver subsidies to childbearing families can to some extent reduce childbearing costs and achieve the expected boost in childbearing willingness. However, it is thought-provoking that cash subsidies are distributed on a household basis, as a policy attempt to share the cost of childbirth in society, but it also invisibly reinforces people's understanding that the family is the main place of childcare. Moreover, given the current gender balance situation and the widespread division of labor within families, the increase in household income is more likely to result in women being asked to take on more responsibility for taking care of their children. For many young women, worrying about birth arrest or even interrupting career development, which in turn affects their economic income and even identity, is a major reason for their negative attitude towards marriage and childbirth. It must be pointed out that this does not question the effectiveness of cash subsidy policies, but rather indicates that encouraging fertility is a complex systematic project, and only when multiple factors form mutually reinforcing synergistic effects can it truly have a positive impact on family fertility decisions. Among them, enhancing the supply of childcare services should be implemented as a priority policy. Developing childcare services to provide families with more parenting options will alleviate the care responsibilities of families, especially women. This alternative family care option allows women as mothers to avoid conflicts between their workplace and family identities, thereby having the opportunity to achieve a balance between work and family. It will also effectively alleviate parenting pressure, thereby affecting family attitudes and decision-making. The childcare subsidies in multiple regions are mostly distributed for children with two or more children, and one child is not included in the scope of policy care. The policy is also aimed at leveraging the reproductive potential of families with one child. Last year, the National Health Commission publicly stated that since China implemented the separate two child policy, comprehensive two child policy, and three child policy, the proportion of two or more children born in China has increased to over 55%. It is important to achieve the expansion of one child families in the future. From this perspective, compared to childcare subsidies, the benefits of developing childcare services are obviously greater, especially when it comes to families with one child in the future. The intervention and support of relevant social resources are believed to bring about more changes. It is gratifying that in recent years, multiple documents have been issued at the national level to accelerate the unification

Edit:qihang    Responsible editor:xinglan

Source:GMW.cn

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