The announcement came after the release of the results of the Seventh National Population Census, which showed that the number of births in mainland China in 2020 was only 12 million, the lowest number of births since 1960, and the further aging of the population, against which the policy was born.[5] This was the slowest population growth rate China experienced.[6] The state-owned Chinese news agency, Xinhua, stated that this policy would be accompanied by supportive measures to maintain China's advantage in human labor.[3] However, some Chinese citizens expressed dissatisfaction with the policy, as they would be unable to raise children due to the high cost of living in China relative to the income.[7][4]
Beginning in 1979, China implemented the one-child policy, which stipulated that a couple could only have one child, resulting in a declining new population and a rapidly aging society. In order to slow down the trend of population aging, in 2015, the CCP officially launched the two-child policy, which relaxed the birth restrictions. However, the policy did not result in the expected wave of births, and the pregnancy rate among young women continued to show a record low decline, experiencing a third consecutive year of decrease.[12] In this regard, during the 2020 National People's Congress (NPC) session, NPC deputy Huang Xihua suggested removing the penalty policy for having more than three children.[13] Previously, the fine, called a "social upbringing fee" or "social maintenance fee", was the punishment for the families having more than one child. According to the policy, the families violating the law brought the burden to the whole society. Therefore, the social maintenance fee was used for the operation of local governments. [14]
According to Reuters, as of late 2020, people were being fined 130,000 yuan ($20,440) for having a third child.[15]
Reactions
Although the CCP government had high expectations for the new policy,[16] in a 2021 online poll conducted by the state media Xinhua on its Weibo account, using the hashtag #AreYouReady for the new three-child policy, about 29,000 out of 31,000 respondents stated they would "never consider it."[15]
Moody's, a bond credit rating agency, said the new three-child policy is unlikely to boost birthrate and the aging will remain a credit-negative constraint for China.[17] A January 2022 study suggested allowing a third child would not significantly boost fertility in the short term.[18]
In January 2023, the government of Sichuan Province announced that it had abolished the three-child policy completely, allowing parents in Sichuan to legally have as many children as they want.[19][20]
According to report, the data released in October 2023 by China's National Health Commission show that 15% of the 9.56 million newborns in 2022 were a family’s third child, up only 0.5% from 2021.[21]
