Chinese province ends ban on unmarried people having children

A Chinese province of more than 80 million people will lift restrictions on unmarried people having children and remove caps on the number of babies as part of a national drive to increase the country’s birth rate.

Sichuan’s health commission announced on Monday it would allow all people to register births with the provincial government from 15 February. It will also remove limits on the number of birth registrations for any parent.

Until now, the commission had allowed only married couples who wanted to have up to two children to register with local authorities. In a government notice, Sichuan authorities said the measures “shift the focus of childbearing registration to childbearing desire and childbearing results”.

The measures will be in place for five years.

National reproduction policies do not explicitly ban unmarried women from having children but proof of marriage is often required for parents to access free services including prenatal healthcare, a mother’s salary during maternity leave, and job protection.

Those who seek to register a birth outside of marriage often face heavy fines in order to get the child a hukou – China’s crucial household registration that gives the child access to education and social services.

China’s government has been introducing a growing list of measures and legislative changes to encourage more people to have children. In 2022, the country’s population fell for the first time in six decades. The government’s concerns largely centre on the impact of an ageing population on the economy, as the proportion of work-age people shrinks in comparison with those supported by state welfare.

Sichuan ranks seventh in terms of proportion of the population older than 60, or more than 21%, according to government figures. The province is among a number to have tried multiple incentives to increase births. In July 2021, it introduced monthly allowances to parents who have a second or third child until the children are three.

After decades of a punitive one-child policy, which included financial penalties and forced abortions and ended only in 2016, Chinese society has a major gender imbalance due to the preference for male children. Young people are increasingly rejecting marriage and childbirth, citing the high cost of living, reduced social mobility, increased career pressures and social expectations on women.

Yi Fuxian, an obstetrics and gynaecology researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and an expert on China’s population changes, said the marriage requirement related to the previous birth limits, ensuring there was only one child (or later, two or three children) born to one man and woman.

“Now it is equivalent to completely cancelling the [limit], so there is no need to make marriage a prerequisite. Respect for illegitimate reproductive rights, but not to encourage illegitimate births,” he said, adding that having children outside marriage was still uncommon across east Asia.

In response to the Sichuan amendment, reaction online was varied, with tens of millions of people sharing or discussing it. Some people said the measures failed to address their concerns about house prices, while others speculated what it would mean for extramarital affairs and if it would affect illegal surrogacy.

Some criticised the policy for being desperate to increase birth rates. “Let’s consider the question of whether or not to give birth after reforming the education and medical system,” said one.

Some supported the policy. “If there are marriage restrictions, forcibly tying two people up together to get married and then after a long time and they get divorced – what a mess! Under this policy, it is much more trouble-free, and it respects reproductive freedom.”

Xiaoqian Zhu, Verna Yu and Reuters contributed to this report