The National Health Commission held a press conference on the progress and experience and practices of implementing the "Decision of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Optimizing The Birth Policy to Promote the Long-term Balanced Development of the Population" (full text of the transcript)
The National Health Commission held a regular press conference in Beijing on January 20 to introduce the progress and experience and practices of implementing the "Decision of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Optimizing The Birth Policy to Promote the Long-term Balanced Development of the Population".
compere
Spokesperson of the National Health Commission and Deputy Director General of the Department of Publicity
Hu Qiangqiang
Friends from the media, good morning. Welcome to the first regular press conference of the National Health Commission in 2022. First of all, I would like to inform you of the recently issued important policy documents on health. First, together with the National Office on Aging and the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, we issued the "Notice on Comprehensively Strengthening Elderly Health Services", starting from enhancing the awareness of elderly health services, doing a good job in elderly health services and strengthening organizational guarantees, continuously increasing service supply, improving service quality, and solving the worries and worries of the elderly. The second is to issue the "14th Five-Year Plan" National Eye Health Plan (2021-2025) to promote the high-quality development of eye health in the mainland during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period. By 2025, it is proposed to strive to achieve the following goals: the annual coverage of eye care and vision examinations for children aged 0-6 years will reach more than 90%. The number of visual impairment caused by high myopia has gradually decreased, and the number of cataract surgeries has reached more than 3500 million people nationwide. The third is to issue the "Guidelines for the Construction of Comprehensive Childcare Service Centers (Trial)", clarify the project composition and construction scale, renovate and expand the project, provide technical requirements and guidance for the new construction, renovation and expansion of the comprehensive childcare service center, and ensure the safe and healthy growth of infants and young children. The fourth is to issue the "Notice on the Work Plan for Cervical Cancer Screening and the Work Plan for Breast Cancer Screening", and on the basis of the 2019 "Specifications for the Examination of "Two Cancers" for Rural Women", further standardize the screening work, expand the screening service objects, and expand the number of rural women of appropriate age to urban and rural women of appropriate age. At the same time, improve the content of screening services and highlight quality control. The above is a recent briefing.
In June 2021, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the Decision on Optimizing Fertility Policies to Promote the Long-term Balanced Development of the Population, implementing the three-child birth policy and supporting measures. Over the past six months, all regions and departments have taken active actions to improve the leadership mechanism, introduce support measures, and promote the implementation of the task of optimizing the birth policy, and the relevant work has made positive progress, and some good experiences and good practices have been formed. Today's press conference will focus on the implementation of the "Decision" and the progress of various localities in implementing and optimizing the birth policy, improving supporting measures, and improving service guarantees. The guests attending the press conference were: Mr. Yang Jinrui, Deputy Director General of the Department of Population and Family of the National Health Commission. Professor Song Jian, Deputy Director of the Population and Development Research Center of Chinese Min University. Mr. Cao Qifeng, Deputy Director of Zhejiang Provincial Health Commission. Mr. Xu Junfeng, Vice Mayor of Panzhihua Municipal People's Government of Sichuan Province. Mr. Sheng Le, Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Health Commission of Suzhou Municipality, Jiangsu Province. I am Hu Qiangqiang, spokesman for the National Health Commission.
First of all, I would like to ask Deputy Director General Yang Jinrui to introduce the overall situation of the implementation of the Central Committee's "Decision."
Deputy Director General of the Department of Population and Family of the National Health Commission
Yang Jinrui
Dear friends from the media, good morning, thank you for your long-term attention to population issues, especially today is very hard, braving heavy snow to attend our press conference, thank you all. Next, I'll make a post.
The population problem is the greatest of the country. In recent years, the mainland's population development has faced turning point changes, the momentum of total population growth has weakened significantly, the birth population has continued to decline, the degree of aging has been deepening, and the burden of fertility, parenting and education has become the main factor restricting the masses' fertility. In June 2021, the CENTRAL Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the Decision on Optimizing The Birth Policy to Promote the Long-term Balanced Development of the Population (hereinafter referred to as the Decision) to implement the three-child birth policy and supporting measures. This is a major decision made by the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core standing at the strategic height of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, basing itself on the new development stage, implementing the new development concept, building a new development pattern, scientifically grasping the law of population development, and taking into account multiple policy objectives.
Since the promulgation of the Central Decision, all localities and departments have taken active actions to promote the implementation of the task of optimizing the birth policy. First, the restriction measures such as social support fees are abolished, and the National Health Commission and relevant departments do a good job in cleaning up relevant administrative regulations, rules and normative documents. Second, various departments have actively introduced a series of supporting measures, including education "double reduction", the inclusion of infant and child care service fees for children under 3 years old in the special deduction of individual tax, three-child birth insurance treatment, inclusive childcare services, eugenics and excellent breeding services, and raising the standard of special family support funds. Third, all localities have organized the implementation of the three-child birth policy in accordance with the law and actively introduced support measures. At present, 25 provinces have completed the revision of regulations, and some provinces have formulated implementation plans. Judging from the existing situation, all localities have generally extended maternity leave by 30-90 days, and increased the development of inclusive childcare services and the protection of family rights and interests of family planning families. Zhejiang will build a child-friendly society as a major reform measure into the construction of the common prosperity pilot demonstration zone, Suzhou plans to invest 400 million yuan in financial investment to promote the development of inclusive childcare, Panzhihua City to improve the birth service system, explore the issuance of birth allowances, and so on.
Generally speaking, all sectors of society have paid extensive attention to the optimization of fertility policies, the three-child birth policy and supporting measures have been smoothly implemented, and a child-friendly social environment is gradually taking shape. In the next step, the National Health Commission will work with relevant departments to further implement the spirit of the Central Decision, guide local organizations to implement the three-child birth policy, and study and introduce more positive fertility support measures. We will also summarize the advanced experience of various places in a timely manner and do a good job in publicity and promotion.
Next, I and a few colleagues and experts answer your questions on the implementation of the Central Decision.
People's Daily
We saw that on January 17, the National Bureau of Statistics released the national population data, the data of the comprehensive "seven censuses", as well as the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, and we saw that the population has continued to decline in the past few years. Why? Thank you.
The decline in the number of births is the result of a combination of factors.
First, the scale of women of childbearing age, especially women of childbearing age during the period of vigorous fertility, has declined. During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, women aged 20-34 during the boom period decreased by an average of 3.4 million per year, and in 2021, compared with 2020, there were 4.73 million fewer. This is an important factor driving the decline in the number of births.
Second, young people's concept of marriage and childbearing has changed significantly. At present, as the new main body of marriage and childbearing, the post-90s and post-00s grow up and work in cities and towns, have a longer period of education, face greater pressure on employment competition, and the phenomenon of delay in marriage and childbearing is very prominent. Delayed marriage increases the likelihood that women will not marry for life, further inhibiting fertility levels. At the same time, the willingness to have children continues to decline, and the average number of children intended for women of childbearing age was 1.76 in 2017, 1.73 in 2019, and 1.64 in 2021.
Third, the high cost of fertility education has aggravated fertility concerns. With the development of economic and social development, the cost of fertility and parenting education under the influence of multiple factors such as housing, education and employment remains high, which increases the fertility concerns of young people. Relevant support policies are not well connected, and public services such as childcare are not sound, making many young people hesitant and discouraged on fertility issues.
In addition, the covid-19 pandemic has also had a certain impact on the marriage and childbirth arrangements of some people.
Macao Monthly Macao News Agency reporter
In recent years, the number of births on the mainland has continued to decline, please ask experts, what do you expect to be the trend of the mainland birth population in the coming period? Will it continue to go lower? Thank you.
Deputy Director of the Population and Development Research Center of Chinese Min University
Song Jian
Thank you for your question. Indeed, the number of births in China has continued to decline in recent years, mainly due to the total number of women of childbearing age, the internal age structure of women of childbearing age and multiple factors of fertility. Judging the future trend is necessary to combine the above factors.
The number of women of childbearing age depends on the size of previous birth cohorts, with the continental birth population exceeding 20 million in 1962-1975 and 1981-1997, and under conditions of slow changes in death levels, the entry of birth cohorts of different sizes into childbearing age will affect the total number of women of childbearing age. In the coming period, the high birth cohort between 1981 and 1997 is still the main body of women of childbearing age in the mainland, but the number of women who subsequently enter the childbearing age period is decreasing, resulting in a continuous decline in the total number of women of childbearing age, and the internal age structure tends to age, especially the scale of women of childbearing age during the 20-34-year-old fertility period will decline significantly before 2030, which will bring greater downward pressure to the birth population.
In recent years, the fertility rate in the mainland has also declined relatively rapidly, especially the decline in the total fertility rate of one child has offset the effect of the increase in the total fertility rate of the second child, which is the result of the low willingness of the masses to have children, the postponement of the age of marriage and childbearing, and the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic. The key to whether the downward trend of the birth population can be smoothed in the future lies in whether the fertility rate can be improved. This requires accelerating the construction of the birth support policy system, alleviating the pressure faced by the masses, promoting marriage and childbearing at the right age, and boosting the level of fertility.
Financial magazine reporter
Since the liberalization of the birth policy, the state and various localities have introduced a series of supporting policies, but we see that the fertility rate in 2021 is declining, and some voices question whether the supporting support policy has not worked, and I want to ask the National Health Commission how to see this problem?
The implementation of the three-child birth policy and supporting measures is to prevent the further decline of the birth population, promote the realization of a moderate fertility level, and promote the long-term balanced development of the population.
Population reproduction is not the same as material reproduction, the cycle of population reproduction is long, there are many influencing factors, and the factors for fertility decision-making are complex and involve all aspects. At present, the implementation of the three-child birth policy is not long, and supporting active fertility support measures are also being introduced, and it is difficult to show obvious results in the short term.
In the next step, all localities and departments will focus on the work of fertility and parenting education that the masses are most looking forward to, launch a series of supporting measures, make practical moves, and make hard moves to further promote the implementation of the central "Decision" and various policies and measures. Thank you.
China News Service reporter
We know to enhance the people's willingness to have children, in addition to the problem of "giving birth", in fact, it is more important to solve the problem of parenting after childbirth, we are concerned that Suzhou has issued some documents to promote childcare services, please ask about the background and measures of these documents and what kind of benefits can be brought to the people? Thank you.
Secretary of the Party Group and Director of the Health Commission of Suzhou Municipality, Jiangsu Province
Sheng Le
Thank you very much to the media friends to ask such a question, we all know that the population problem is the greatest in the country, for a city, after the implementation of the population and the three-child policy, our supporting and supporting the implementation of the situation, in fact, is related to every household. Suzhou is to implement it in accordance with the "Decision" of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and second, to consider our policies and supporting measures in combination with the actual situation of Suzhou. According to the seventh census in Suzhou, there are 12.75 million people, after the implementation of the three-child policy, the people's attention to childcare is quite high, and the demand for childcare is increasing day by day, especially for high-quality childcare services. Since last year, Suzhou has issued relevant documents, but also started the construction of childcare institutions, the response of the people is still very good, but also selected as our practical project, people's heart project, in this process we are also repeatedly problem-oriented thinking, how to do our childcare better.
In this context, we have issued a document for such a childcare service. Mainly focus on several aspects: First, to solve the problem of institutions and carriers. Give more support in land use and planning leadership. The second is supply. The supply of inclusive childcare services will be further broadened. The third is to increase financial support. The fourth is to strengthen the training and training of childcare talents. The fifth is the construction of exemplary institutions and the corresponding model innovation. The sixth is to strengthen the supervision of childcare services. We focus on these six aspects and build a work pattern of linkage at the three levels of Suzhou City, Suzhou Counties (Districts), and Townships (Streets) to promote work.
In specific ways and work, we put forward three priorities, mainly to broaden the supply channels of inclusive childcare, to give priority to supporting the community and opening up the last kilometer; to give priority to supporting units to provide inclusive childcare; and to give priority to supporting kindergartens. Advance our work through these three priorities. At the same time, the social office inclusive childcare institutions that have been filed will be given 10,000 yuan of construction fund subsidies and 300-800 yuan / month of operation subsidies for each childcare. Through last year's efforts, inclusive childcare institutions have risen significantly, and there are currently 32,000 childcare places in suzhou, alleviating the previous tight supply and demand situation.
Through the construction of demonstration institutions, innovative models are closer to the actual needs of the people. For example, the Children's Hospital affiliated to Soochow University has combined with childcare, explored a new model of combining "medicine" and "education", and given full play to the integration of the advantages of the top three specialized hospitals and early childhood development resources, and integrated the development of early childhood development, infant health management, pediatric medical services, and childcare services. At the same time, it also pays attention to the old and the young, and has established a carrier of one-stop integrated services of "old-age care + childcare + health".
Facing the future, we mainly aim at universal childcare, just four words: the first is universal. To broaden the popularity is to strictly follow our planning requirements, and the number of infant and young child care per thousand population reaches 4.5. At the same time, according to a balanced layout, each township street has inclusive childcare institutions. The second is Hui. Hui is to reflect the public welfare, mainly in terms of price. The third is toto. Children have a trust, so that the people can rest assured, and implement the construction standards. The fourth is breeding. Through integrated services, infants and young children can grow up healthily in childcare institutions.
Thank you.
Xinhua News Agency
Many developed countries, including Europe, Japan and South Korea, have already encountered this problem, and the experience of these countries in dealing with low fertility rates is worth learning from? Are these experiences in line with the national conditions of the mainland? In addition, has the mainland fallen into the "low fertility trap"? Thank you.
Thank you for your question. From the perspective of the world, Europe first experienced the fertility transition, fertility from high to low, but unlike what people originally expected, the fertility rate did not stabilize at the replacement level of 2.1 after falling to a low level, but continued to decline, when the fertility rate fell to 1.5, or even lower, European scholars also proposed the so-called low fertility trap. For China, whether we can learn from the experience of other countries needs to see how other countries do it. At present, most countries and regions in the world are facing the challenge of low fertility rates, and various measures have been taken to deal with low fertility rates. When we summarize the measures of all countries, they can be roughly divided into three categories: the first is the measures supported by time, including maternity leave, parental leave, paternity leave and other related leave systems. The second category is financial support, which includes allowances for children, allowances for families and various care allowances for parents, as well as policies for tax breaks. The third category is service support. Service support policies include community childcare, public childcare institutions, home help, after-school care, and more. Although these measures have been taken in different countries and the degree of combination, we have seen that the focus of policies is different and the effects are different due to the different economic, political and cultural backgrounds of each country. If we learn from China, we can find that policies that promote gender equality, balance working-family conflicts, and promote family development are all helpful for raising fertility levels.
At present, the mainland is deeply studying and drawing on the successful experience of the world, because China's fertility rate has also dropped below the replacement level since 1992, and the policy of developing inclusive childcare that we are now adopting, just now the comrades in Suzhou also introduced that in the revised population and family planning regulations in various places, extending maternity leave, setting up parental leave, etc., this is a reference to the experience of other countries. However, China's population is a very large volume, China also has its own unique national conditions, some experience can not be copied, so we must take measures in line with the national conditions, especially from the local to explore their own experience. Thank you.
CCTV reporter of China Central Radio and Television Corporation
An important part of the promulgation of the "Decision" is to support the implementation of the birth support policy, half a year has passed, what measures have been taken at the national level to implement the content of the "Decision"? Thank you.
Thank you for your question. After the promulgation of the Central Decision, the State Council held a national teleconference on optimizing fertility policies on July 27, 2021, and made arrangements for the implementation of the Decision. On August 20, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the decision on amending the Population and Family Planning Law, and on November 16, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference held a consultation meeting on key proposals for improving the birth support policy system to promote the implementation of the three-child birth policy and supporting measures. We can see that all localities and departments are actively taking action to take multiple measures at the same time to promote the implementation of optimized fertility policies. There are several main aspects:
The first is to solidly promote the revision of relevant policies and regulations. Abolish three administrative regulations, including the Measures for the Administration of the Collection of Social Support Fees. The National Health Commission and relevant departments have carried out the work of cleaning up administrative regulations, rules and normative documents involving family planning.
The second is to speed up the introduction of various birth support measures. The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation proposed that the cost of infant and child care services for children under 3 years old be included in the special deduction scheme of individual tax, the Medical Insurance Bureau guided the payment of the cost of the three-child birth policy and the treatment of birth allowances in various places, and the Ministry of Education promoted the "double reduction" work. The National Development and Reform Commission and 23 other departments issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Construction of Child-Friendly Cities.
The third is to strengthen the level of eugenics and breeding service guarantees. Issued the "Maternal and Infant Safety Action Improvement Plan (2021-2025)" to further consolidate the five systems of maternal and child safety. Deeply implement the maternal and child health protection project, and support 427 county-level maternal and child health hospitals to improve their service capabilities in 2021.
The fourth is to actively promote the construction of a childcare service system. The National Health Commission and relevant departments have guided provinces to do a good job in decomposing the annual task of 4.5 thousand child trusts in the "14th Five-Year Plan" outline, and deploy the creation of national infant and child care service demonstration cities. At the same time, the "14th Five-Year Plan" actively responded to the population aging project and childcare construction implementation plan, in-depth promotion of inclusive childcare services special action, 2021 to support the construction of 61,000 inclusive childcare. The Ministry of Education has added infant and young child care majors to secondary vocational colleges, higher vocational colleges and higher vocational undergraduates to strengthen the construction of talent teams.
Fifth, earnestly protect the rights and interests of families with special family planning. The National Health Commission and the Ministry of Finance will study raising the standard of special support funds for family planning families. At the same time, it also gives play to the role of social organizations such as the China Family Planning Association and carries out the work of helping family planning families. Thank you.
Reporter of China Youth Daily
In the process of building a demonstration zone for common prosperity, Zhejiang proposed to build a child-friendly society. In terms of implementing the supporting measures for fertility support issued by the Central Decision, what are the considerations and experiences of Zhejiang in trying first? What tangible guarantees can be brought to the masses in terms of fertility? Thank you.
Deputy Director of Zhejiang Provincial Health Commission
Cao Qifeng
Thank you for your question, and thank you for your attention to the population development of Zhejiang. At present, our province proposes to build a child-friendly society based on the following two considerations: First, to cope with the needs of changes in the demographic situation. According to the "Seven Pu" data, the total fertility rate of our province is about 1.0, lower than the national level of 1.3. We are soberly aware of the severity of the decline in the number of births, and if we do not solve it well, it will have a major impact on the sustained and healthy development of the economy and society of our province. The second is the need for high-quality development and the construction of a common prosperity demonstration zone. In June 2021, the Party Central Committee and the State Council issued the Opinions on Supporting Zhejiang's High-quality Development and Building a Common Prosperity Demonstration Zone, which is a major historical mission entrusted to Zhejiang by the Party Central Committee. On June 11, 2021, the Ninth Plenary Session of the 14th Provincial Party Committee deliberated and adopted the "Implementation Plan for Zhejiang High-quality Development and Construction of Common Prosperity Demonstration Zone (2021-2025)", making a major deployment to build a child-friendly society and create a business card of "Zhejiang has good education".
Zhejiang's main practices in promoting the construction of a "child-friendly society" are: First, integrate into the overall situation. The Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government have listed the construction of a child-friendly society as a priority province, and included the "four lists" of key tasks, breakthrough grips, major reforms, and typical cases of high-quality development and construction of common prosperity demonstration zones. In September 2021, the National Health Commission and the provincial government signed the "Cooperation Agreement on Supporting the High-quality Development of Zhejiang Province in the Field of Health and Health and Building a Common Prosperity Demonstration Zone", comprehensively establishing a strategic cooperation mechanism for the province to jointly build a child-friendly society. In October 2021, the Social Construction Committee of the Provincial Party Committee officially inaugurated the plaque, which included the optimization of fertility policies and the promotion of long-term balanced population development into five key tasks.
The second is to be consistent. In line with the Central Committee's "Decision" and the "Population and Family Planning Law", the "Zhejiang Provincial Population and Family Planning Regulations" have been revised, and the restrictive contents such as the "one-vote veto system", the collection of social support fees, and the approval of reproduction have been deleted. Governments at or above the county level and their departments throughout the province have comprehensively cleaned up and abolished various laws, policies, and measures that are incompatible with child-rearing friendliness.
The third is to actively encourage. On the basis of the maternity leave prescribed by the State, women extend maternity leave by sixty days for one child and ninety days for the second and third children; within the third year of the child, both husband and wife enjoy ten days of parental leave each year; except for maternity leave, which is guaranteed by the maternity fund, the wages, bonuses and other welfare benefits of other holidays are paid. Care for children of families with two children or more attending school (kindergarten) in the same kindergarten, elementary school and junior high school. Fully implant the function of custodial services in community and rural planning and construction. Optimize the rationing mechanism of affordable housing, give preference to multi-child families, increase the amount of housing provident fund loans for three-child families and give priority to lending.
The fourth is to reflect universal benefits. The "Regulations" stipulate that if a woman fails to enjoy maternity leave and maternity allowances due to unemployment, unemployment, flexible employment and other non-insured reasons, the people's government of the county (city, district) shall give appropriate economic subsidies in combination with local realities and the level of economic and social development, and the specific objects and standards shall be prescribed by the people's government of the county (city, district). Families of infants and young children under the age of three are given childcare allowances and childcare expenses. Promote the inclusion of infant and child care service fees for children under 3 years old in the special additional deduction of personal income tax. The provincial people's government may, as necessary, decide to extend the period of maternity leave, nursing leave, parental leave and paternity leave for only children.
Reporter of Hong Kong Central Commentary Agency
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a negative impact on many industries, is the continuous decline in the number of births on the mainland in recent years related to the epidemic? Thank you.
Thank you for your question. Indeed, the COVID-19 outbreak of 2020 has profoundly changed the world, just as we are here to wear masks, there are many uncertainties and risks. As I mentioned earlier, the decline in the size of the birth population is affected by a variety of factors. One of the factors is also related to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, and our preliminary judgment is that the impact of the epidemic is mainly direct and indirect. For example, the increase in insecurity and uncertainty about the future makes families hesitant about future fertility, and will also reduce people's willingness to have children. The COVID-19 pandemic will directly or indirectly reduce the income of family members, making the impact of childcare costs on fertility more pronounced. During the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, there are many enterprises, especially small and micro enterprises, whose benefits are not good, which not only affects the income of family members, but also increases work and family conflicts in the family, and increases the panic or fear of childbirth. Of course, there are still some people who are worried that during the epidemic, maternal and child health care, maternity examinations and other routine services will be affected. These factors will prompt the masses to choose to postpone or even cancel the birth plan.
Since last year, there have been many international studies on the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic on mortality, fertility and so on, and Chinese scholars have also been paying attention to the impact of this. Most of the current studies show that the impact of COVID-19 on births is negative, and the impact of COVID-19 on the birth population in China remains to be further observed.
Thank you for your question.
Reporter of Southern Metropolis Daily
After the promulgation of the central government's "Decision", many provinces extended maternity leave, but some women are worried that their wages will be reduced during the extended maternity leave, which is not conducive to their future employment. How can we balance fertility support policies with women's employment and reduce their concerns? Thank you.
Indeed, most of the newly revised regulations in the provinces now regard the extension of maternity leave as an important measure, and in general, maternity leave is extended by 30-60 days. Originally, paid maternity leave is one of the international experiences I just mentioned, and the original population and family planning regulations in our country also have maternity leave, but since the comprehensive two-child policy, the continuous extension of maternity leave has become an important measure to improve people's fertility willingness and fertility level. As an important measure of support for the duration of childbirth, paid maternity leave is an irreplaceable role within the family that facilitates the arrangement of time between couples and for the healthy recovery of the mother after childbirth and the proper care of the newborn baby.
But why people still have this concern, feel that maternity leave has been extended, but it is a heavy heart, the key is whether it can be paid maternity leave to really land, especially to clarify the cost sharing mechanism of the holiday. Because the holiday is not a thing, paid maternity leave may be the thing, can not guarantee the woman's income during the holiday, can the woman successfully return to the original post after taking maternity leave, her position and her original income are not affected. Therefore, we believe that the childcare sharing mechanism must be clear, otherwise it may affect women's income security and even aggravate women's employment discrimination. Just now, when the leaders of Zhejiang introduced, all localities are now further clarifying the cost sharing mechanism of birth-related holidays, and the cost of childbirth should be shared by the state, enterprises and families, and a variety of measures should be used, such as government subsidies, tax reductions and exemptions, and the cost of employers should be appropriately shared, so as to alleviate the worries of families, especially women of childbearing age. Thank you.
Red Star News reporter
Implementing the central "Decision", many places have introduced supporting measures for fertility in combination with actual conditions, and it has been reported that Panzhihua has launched a childcare subsidy policy based on what considerations? In terms of improving the fertility service system, what measures can be implemented and effective at present?
Vice Mayor of Panzhihua Municipal People's Government of Sichuan Province
Xu Junfeng
Thank you for your question and for your interest in Panzhihua. After the promulgation of the Central Decision, Panzhihua introduced relevant childcare subsidy policies, mainly based on the following considerations.
First, implement national policies. Combined with the actual situation of Panzhihua, including our financial situation, we have introduced policies related to birth subsidies, which is also the embodiment of the implementation of the Central Decision.
Second, share the fruits of development. Panzhihua is a city born of the construction of the third line, in the 1960s, outstanding talents from all over the country responded to the national call of "good people and good people will be on the third line" and gathered in Panzhihua. At that time, the conditions were very difficult, they sacrificed their youth for life, dedicated their children and grandchildren for life, and made great efforts. In 2021, the POPULAR TV series "Fiery Red Years" during the National Day on CCTV reproduced this history, so the builders of Panzhihua are heroes. In order to be grateful to the builders, the heroic people living on this land, and the new citizens who are willing to go to Panzhihua, we have introduced relevant policies to let them share the fruits of our reform and development.
Third, respond to the voices of the masses. In addition to the concept of fertility, we feel in practice that everyone is unwilling to give birth and dare not have children, and one of the important reasons is that the cost of parenting and education is relatively high. Therefore, we have introduced a more targeted policy according to the actual situation, for eligible families, you can subsidize 500 yuan of childcare subsidies per month, although the money is not much, but it can solve part of the "milk powder money".
Regarding the second aspect of the issue you mentioned, we have made a combination of punches in improving relevant policies.
First, we create a quality fertility environment. As we all know, Panzhihua is very good, our climate is warm in winter and cool in summer, fruits are continuous all year round, the air quality is also very good, the human environment is also very good, in one word, Panzhihua is "good". Such an environment is very suitable for pregnancy, for example, today is the great cold festival, I looked at the weather forecast, the maximum temperature in Beijing is minus 2 degrees, and the maximum temperature in Panzhihua is 19 degrees.
Second, we have created a good environment for women and children. A new maternal and child health hospital has been built, so that women of the right age can get high-quality health services in Panzhihua, including free services for pregnant women to give birth in hospital, and solve the problem of childbirth costs through medical insurance reimbursement and financial support.
Third, strictly implement the relevant maternity allowance policy. We have fully implemented the provisions of 98 days of basic maternity leave, 60 days of extended maternity leave in Sichuan Province, and 15 days of maternity leave for each additional child, and issued maternity allowances to solve the problem of treatment during maternity leave.
Fourth, vigorously develop childcare services. Because many of them are now dual-career families, it is inconvenient to bring children, we have solved the problem of not having time to take children by increasing the number of childcare beds.
We want to solve some of the problems in this regard of fertility through the above measures, many people who have arrived in Panzhihua have such a feeling, or there is such a popular sentence, called "in Panzhihua to prepare for pregnancy and babybirth, intimate and happy to go home" . Thank you.
Chinese mouth newspaper reporter
We have noticed that after the promulgation of the Central Decision, many birth support measures have been introduced in various localities. Netizens and social people have generally put forward many relevant suggestions, including suggestions such as giving priority to public rental housing. What are the views on these recommendations and measures at the national level? Thank you.
Thank you to this journalist friend. Here, I would like to thank all sectors of society for their attention to the issue of population development, and also welcome the good opinions and suggestions of all sectors of society on the issue of population development. Just as you just said, after the implementation of the three-child policy, all localities have actively explored, and just now Zhejiang, Suzhou and Panzhihua have also introduced a series of work they have carried out. Of course, there are also many places that have introduced supporting measures, such as Linze County in Gansu Province, which has introduced 11 subsidies such as birth allowances, childcare subsidies, and housing subsidies, etc. After these practices have been reported by the media, all sectors of society have paid wide attention. We believe that in accordance with the requirements of the Central Decision and in light of local realities, all localities have explored and implemented positive support measures, which have been welcomed by the masses, and we believe that they should be affirmed.
At the same time, we hope that more places will combine the local actual situation, focus on the urgent and difficult expectations of the masses in fertility and parenting education, accelerate the study and introduction of positive support measures, and jointly create a fertility-friendly policy atmosphere and social environment.
Thank you, Director Yang, for the time relationship, I will ask the last 1-2 questions.
Health newspaper reporter
Does the decline in the birth population indicate that the mainland demographic dividend is shrinking or disappearing? How far is the mainland demographic dividend from quantity to quality, and how should such a transformation be promoted? Thank you.
Thank you for your question. The demographic dividend is indeed a concept that has been particularly hot in recent years, and it is itself a concept of population economics. In fact, from the perspective of demography, we believe that the demographic dividend is closely related to the change in the age structure of the population, so in a sense, we can also call the demographic dividend "structural dividend". The age structure of the population can be divided into three parts, the middle one is the working-age population, the other is the children's population, and the elderly population. Therefore, in the process of population transformation, on the one hand, the decline in fertility has led to a significant decline in the proportion of the young population, and the proportion of the elderly population has not been so high, resulting in a particularly high proportion of the middle working-age population. This situation we call it the demographic dividend opportunity window period, that is to say, it is a window of opportunity, not necessarily able to really become a dividend. Since the reform and opening up, China has fully seized the window of opportunity for the demographic dividend, harvested the demographic dividend, and promoted the rapid development of China's social economy.
How to judge the future trend? Our current birth population is declining, in fact, the proportion of children aged 0-14 will continue to decline, while the proportion of our elderly population is rising rapidly. China is still in the window of opportunity for the demographic dividend, but this window is about to close.
In the future, we must turn the structural dividend into a longer-term quality dividend, we must fully tap the elderly population and the female population in the population, and we must fully realize the elderly dividend and gender dividend in the demographic dividend.
Reporter of China Family Daily
The "Decision" mentions the implementation of the policy that a couple can have three children, will our fertility policy continue to be adjusted? Thank you.
Thank you to this journalist friend for his question. As we all mentioned just now, the population issue is the greatest in the country, and population development is a major matter related to the development of the Chinese nation. The mainland has always adhered to the comprehensive decision-making on population and development, scientifically grasped the law of population development, based on the basic national conditions of the population, constantly improved the birth policy, and promoted the coordinated and sustainable development of population, economy, society, resources and environment.
At present, our main task is to thoroughly implement the "Decision" of the central government, implement the three-child birth policy and supporting measures, reduce the burden of the masses in fertility and education, better meet the people's willingness to have children, promote the realization of a moderate fertility level, and promote the long-term balanced development of the population. Thank you.
Thank you Director Yang, today's on-site question session is here, today's press conference we focused on the work measures since the release of the "Decision" more than half a year ago, some of the implementation of specific conditions, as well as the specific practices and results received in the implementation of the Central Decision. Next, we will also hold a relevant press conference on the implementation of the Central Decision, please continue to pay attention, thank you to the guests, thank you to the media friends, today's press conference is over.
Source/ National Health Commission official website, China net
Editor/Bin Liu
Review/Shea
Producer/Xi Shujun