A Chinese province of more than 80 million people will lift restrictions that prevent unmarried people from having children and remove the restriction on the number of children. This is one of the drives to increase the country’s birth rate.
The Health Commission stated that all people can now register births with the province. It will also remove limits on the number of birth registrations.
Before the ban, only married couples who wanted to have up to two children could register with local authorities.
Sichuan authorities said the measures “shift the focus of childbearing registration to childbearing desire and childbearing results”. The measures will be in place for five years.
Heavy fines were placed on people who wanted to register a birth outside of marriage to get the child a hukou – China’s crucial household registration that gives the child access to education and social services.
The Chinese government has turned a growing list of measures and legislative changes to encourage childbirth. In 2022, the country’s population dropped for the first time in 60 years.
Yi Fuxian, an obstetrics and gynaecology researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an expert on China’s population changes, said the marriage requirement related to the previous birth limits, ensuring there was only one child (or later, two or three children) born to one man and woman.
“Now it is equivalent to completely cancelling the [limit], so there is no need to make marriage a prerequisite. Respect for illegitimate reproductive rights, but not to encourage illegitimate births,” he said.
There were mixed reactions online with tens of millions of people sharing or discussing it. Some speculated what it would mean for extramarital affairs and if it would affect illegal surrogacy.
The policy was criticized, “Let’s consider the question of whether or not to give birth after reforming the education and medical system,” said one.
“If there are marriage restrictions, forcibly tying two people up together to get married and then after a long time and they get divorced – what a mess! Under this policy, it is much more trouble-free, and it respects reproductive freedom.”
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