Third-child Policy

The third-child policy aims to respond to China’s aging population and improve the country’s population structure. Even a perfect policy may fail if it is not embraced by the people. To achieve positive results, the country should implement complementary policies to support families that follow the new policy.

Lu Jiehua, professor at Peking University

China decided to further ease the family planning policy, allowing all couples to have three children, and to beef up support policies. The decision was declared at a meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on May 31, 2021.

The net increase of China’s population from 2019 to 2020 was 2.04 million, the lowest since 1962, according to the China Statistical Yearbook 2021 released by the National Bureau of Statistics. More than half of Chinese women who had planned to have a second child finally gave up, according to the 2019 national demographic and household survey. Policies in education, housing, and employment affect couples’ childbearing decisions. Due to concerns about the economic burden, childcare service and work-life balance, many parents have been reluctant to have a second child even after the two-child policy was rolled out in 2016.

December 7, 2021: Parents carry their children in “pockets” and rush to the finish line in a game held at the Central Kindergarten of Hongshi Town in Chongqing Municipality. Since the release of the third-child policy, governments at all levels have introduced incentives such as holidays and tax deduction to promote the implementation of the policy. IC