China’s national legislature formally endorsed the three-child policy mooted by the ruling Communist Party, in a major policy shift aimed for preventing a steep decline in birth rates in the world’s most populous country.
The revised Population and Family Planning Law, which allows Chinese couples to have three children, was passed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC).
In an apparent attempt to deal with the reluctance of the Chinese couples to have more children due to mounting costs, the amended law also passed more social and economic support measures to address the concerns.
The new law stipulates that the country will take supportive measures, including those in finances, taxes, insurance, education, housing and employment, to reduce families’ burdens as well as the cost of raising and educating children.
In May this year, the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) approved a relaxation of its strict two-child policy to allow all couples to have up to three children.
China permitted all couples to have two children in 2016, scrapping the draconian decades-old one-child policy which policymakers blame for the demographic crisis in the country.
Pursuant to the Chinese officials, the one-child policy implemented for over three decades has prevented over 400 million births.