Complex problems face hopeless solutions… or at least creative ones. Chinese authorities have introduced measures to encourage families to have children as part of efforts to revive the country’s declining birth rate. They discussed subsidies, longer maternity leaves or tax benefits to help cope with parenthood. But in Hainan, an island province in the south of the country, they have gone one step further with a strange commitment: among other problems, the costs of painless birth treatments, which are now poorly supported, are often borne by the patient. .

The measure is part of a broader, more ambitious package aimed at making China a “birth-friendly society”.

Painless births are better. The news was reported by a Hong Kong newspaper a few days ago. South China Morning Post (SCMP): As part of their strategy to reverse an alarming decline in the birth rate, authorities in China’s southernmost Hainan province have pledged to cover the cost of women’s pain treatments during childbirth.

To be more precise, your bill will be included in government health insurance plans. The aim is twofold. The aim is to reduce the economic burden of motherhood and also – the Hong Kong newspaper notes – to “ease the anxiety” of women who want to become mothers but are worried about the time they will spend in the delivery room.

What do the numbers say? Currently, such pain relief treatments are not common in the country. The reality is that its use is in the minority in China, either due to fear of possible side effects or because patients themselves bear the cost of its use. Less than a third of Chinese women who gave birth that year did so with pain management, according to data collected in 2022 by Mi Weidong, an anesthesiologist who led a team from the National Health Commission that fully addressed the issue.

beyond Hainan. The guide may not be limited to just Hainan, home to just over ten million people. Although the SCMP assures that the province is committed to including analgesic treatments during labor in state health care plans, the truth is that at the end of October, both the Chinese Government and the Communist Party Central Committee issued overlooked statements on this issue. The same idea emerged as part of the country’s efforts to “build a friendly society” with its birth rates.

“A maternity subsidy system will be established and the Government has committed to increasing the personal income tax deduction. Adequate pain relief during childbirth will also be added to the list of services that can be reimbursed by health insurance and assisted reproductive technology services,” the statement said. It was published by the government agency Xinhua, which is the main mouthpiece of the Chinese Government.

“Will, strength, courage”. The expression comes from Yuan: “They dare and can have children”. In Hainan, as in the rest of China, the strategy is not just focused on making the prospect of childbirth less distressing for expectant mothers. The catalog of measures on the table is much broader and more ambitious.

A new report collected by People’s DailyThe official newspaper of the Communist Party of China, the Communist Party of China, actually advocated going further and “reducing the costs of birth, child care and education.” All so that “more people dare and are willing to have children.” “Maintaining reasonable levels of fertility and demographic structure is of great importance for economic development and long-term stability.”

“A suitable environment for birth”. Hainan provincial authorities also suggest covering assisted reproductive treatments, easing the cost of medical check-ups during pregnancy, or giving priority to families with many children when it comes to housing. Similarly, Xin Jinping’s Executive advocates adopting a “multiple approach” in designing an “incentive policy” for birth rates that includes “creating a social atmosphere conducive to birth and strengthening support, education, housing and employment.”

The bet is not an ordinary bet. The government acknowledges that recent surveys, such as that conducted by the National Health Commission in 2021, have shown that a lack of time to raise children or difficulties in combining motherhood and the development of a professional career are factors that deter Chinese women from education. having children. The government guarantees that the new measures will also take into account those with “flexible forms of employment” or running “new types of” businesses, as well as migrants from rural areas.

Important yes, new no. Birth promotion measures are not new in China. With an increasingly complex (and difficult) population pyramid, the country has been taking measures to reverse the situation for some time. The most important and most important of these is the abandonment of the historical “one child” policy. Over the past few years, it has also restricted the international adoption of orphans and promoted different policies aimed at reactivating its once powerful demographic engine.

When we look at the population pyramid. The data is definitely meaningful. Last year saw the country’s birth rate drop to 6.39 per thousand people, which is doubly bad news. First, because it aggravates the situation to stitch demographic is moving away from 6.77 in 2022. Second, it represents the lowest birth rate since the Chinese Communist Revolution in 1949.

Just over nine million babies were born in the country through 2023. Just a year ago this figure was just over nine and a half million. The problem is not just that fewer children are being born. Another major problem, recognized by the Communist Party itself, is the “accelerated aging” of society, which represents a challenge to state coffers.

Pictures | 东旭王 (Unsplash)

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