Three Child Policy

Strict enforcement of only allowing one-child per household began in 1980 until January 2016, when China started shifting to two children. The two-child limit commenced in 2016 to boost the birth rates after the previous policy. After passing the law, there was an increase in births, however, the numbers started to drop. The high cost of raising children has deterred countless couples.

A few months ago, China passed the law from a two-child policy to a three-child policy. The policy was created in response to only around 12 million babies being born in 2020 (in contrast to around 17.9 million in 2016).

Over 264 million people were aged 60 and over out of China's 1.4 billion population in 2020-- that's 18.7 percent. As a result, the government stated a need for major changes due to China's aging population, leading to the implementation of the three-child policy to improve the structure of the population. On August 20th, 2021, the regulation was passed during a meeting at the NPC (National People Congress).

China has started to release supporting measures for the new policy to encourage women to have more children such as tax deductions and expanding childcare services. However, there are fines and other penalties for those who violate the family planning law and have more children than allowed. Before the three-child policy, having more children than permitted could even result in a dismissal in office.