In recent years, from improving the maternity leave policy to promoting individual income tax reduction, from liberalizing the third child to promoting the "double reduction...... The policy level has been pushing, but the number of births in the mainland continues to decline. According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics, the number of births in mainland China in 2023 will be 9.02 million, a decrease of 2.08 million from the end of the previous year, and the natural population growth rate will be -1.48 per thousand, setting a new record for the number of births since the establishment of China.
Zheng Lili, a member of the Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and president of the Hospital of Northwestern Polytechnical University, believes that the universality of the birth policy is weak and cannot well activate the willingness of people at different levels to marry and have children. She said that according to the economic development level of different regions, we should promote multi-level and multi-angle birth support policies to ensure the pertinence and operability of the policy.
In her research, Zheng Lili found that the fertility intention of school-age families has not been fully transformed into reproductive behavior, which is caused by a combination of many pressures, such as economic pressure, health problems, worries about career development and lack of care for children. Women, in particular, have a certain degree of fertility anxiety and fall into the dilemma of "wanting to give birth but not daring to give birth".
Zheng Lili suggested that in addition to the general maternity allowance and housing subsidy, the policy level should also clearly give a certain time tilt to the work assessment of highly educated women, which will help reduce the ideological burden of highly educated women on childbirth and childcare, and increase their willingness to have children.
In Zheng Lili's view, the workplace rights and interests of women after childbirth should also be "reliable". At the same time, she suggested that women should be given flexible work arrangements after childbirth, and all units should promote flexible working hours, set up flexible work positions such as remote work and shared positions, so that women can more easily balance work and family responsibilities, strengthen the monitoring and crackdown on gender discrimination in the workplace, encourage enterprises to create an inclusive and fair working environment, implement the protection of women's rights and interests, and build a childbirth-friendly employment environment.
"Birth" is only the beginning, and whether or not you can hold "stable happiness" after "birth" is the key. Children over the age of 3 can go to kindergarten, but what about the "little milk baby" between the ages of 0 and 3? In the burden of parenting, children before the age of 3 consume more energy from parents, which reduces the willingness of some families to have more children.
According to the data of the National Health Commission in 2023, the number of infants and young children under the age of 3 in mainland China is about 40 million at this stage, but the enrollment rate of childcare service institutions is only about 5.5%, and there is still a large gap between supply and demand.
Yang Yingzhou, a member of the Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and former director of the Provincial Health Supervision Center, and a second-level inspector, found in the survey that although the number of childcare institutions in the province is increasing, the foundation of childcare services is relatively weak, and the proportion of inclusive services is low. On the one hand, the main body of childcare institutions is not clear, and on the other hand, the professionalism and quality of childcare services are low.
"The target of childcare institutions is infants and toddlers under the age of 3, but individual institutions under the banner of childcare, enroll children between the ages of 3 and 6, and carry out teaching management in a kindergarten model, but do not apply for kindergarten teaching qualifications. Yang Yingzhou said that in the long run, the vague cognition and trust in childcare institutions, early education institutions, and childcare classes will cause a dilemma of "difficulty in sending childcare" and "difficulty in enrollment" of childcare institutions.
He suggested that the entry threshold should be lowered in due course. Childcare institutions set standards and management norms should not be copied kindergarten model, should be based on the actual situation of childcare institutions and the physical and mental development characteristics of infants and young children, the development of targeted review standards and management norms. Further clarify the main body of childcare institutions, such as childcare institutions over the age of 3 must be approved by the education department.
To improve the quality of infant and child care services, it is necessary to improve the "medical care and education" literacy of industry service personnel. Yang Yingzhou suggested that the Provincial Department of Finance should allocate special funds for the training of infant and child care service personnel to the competent government departments, increase the training of care service personnel in infant and child care or care institutions in the province, and promote the high-quality development of teachers in the childcare service industry.
At present, the competition in the field of education is fierce and the involution is serious, and the "intensive cultivation model" has become a relatively common parenting model. The high cost of parenting for families also inhibits the willingness of families of childbearing age to have more children to a certain extent.
"The key to solving the low fertility rate is to solve the 'educational anxiety', first of all, preschool education. Liu Huana, a member of the Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a coach of the Provincial Football Management Center, believes that at present, the main appeal of the public for preschool education is to solve the problem of "difficult to enter the kindergarten" and "expensive to enter the kindergarten". She suggested that the three-year period of kindergarten education should be included in the scope of compulsory education, and that the nine-year compulsory education should be extended to 12 years. Increase the level of universal and inclusive preschool education, improve the preschool education funding system, and effectively ensure that children from economically disadvantaged families receive inclusive preschool education.
In Liu Huana's view, optimizing the structure of compulsory education is an important safeguard measure for building a childbirth-friendly society.
She suggested that compulsory education places should be ensured mainly by public schools and by government purchases. Continue to implement the policy of "two exemptions and one subsidy" to reduce the cost of students' schooling. Implement the "double reduction" policy, further reduce the burden of homework and extracurricular training for students in the compulsory education stage, give play to the role of school education as the main front, improve the quality of after-school services, and ensure after-school service funding in accordance with regulations.
Intern reporter Ma Youyi reporter from all walks of life reporter Zhao Jing