More the merrier as Sichuan lifts child cap

Health authorities in southwestern Sichuan will lift its three-child birth limit and allow unmarried individuals to raise a family and enjoy benefits reserved for married couples in the latest effort to bolster a falling birth rate.

Beijing dictates that only married women are allowed to give birth, but with marriage and birth rates having fallen to record lows in recent years, provincial authorities revamped a 2019 rule to cover singles who want to have children.

From February 15, married couples and any individuals who want offsprings will be allowed to register with the government in China's fifth most populous province, with no ceiling on the number of children they can register for.

The measure aims to "promote long-term and balanced population development," Sichuan's health commission said.

Until now, the commission had allowed only married couples who wanted to have up to two children to register with local authorities.

China ended its strict "one-child policy" - imposed in the 1980s - in 2016 and began allowing couples to have three children in 2021.

But that has failed to reverse the demographic decline.

Its population shrank last year for the first time in six decades, a historic turn expected to usher in a period of decline.

That prospect is pushing authorities to roll out incentives and measures to boost the population.

A nationwide registry system for couples to register with local authorities ensures maternity insurance to cover medical bills, while letting married women keep their salary during maternity leave.

These benefits will now be extended to single men and women in Sichuan, which ranks seventh in the nation in terms of those older than 60, or more than 21 percent of its population.

Chinese netizens have varied opinions about the policy change.

A Weibo user, in a comment under the post about the issue by Chengdu Economic Daily, said: "This policy encourages people to have affairs and discourages them from marriage."

Another saiod, "What then? Canceling the age limit [of giving birth]? They are crazy about boosting the birth rate!"