A number of representatives and committee members offered suggestions for improving the supporting measures for the three-child birth policy
Proposed extension of male paternity leave to fully implement parental leave
Optimizing the fertility policy has always been a hot topic of widespread concern.
Since the beginning of this year, many provinces across the country have adopted relevant regulations to implement measures such as extending maternity leave and increasing parental leave.
This year's government work report also proposes to improve the supporting measures for the three-child birth policy, include the care expenses of infants and young children under the age of 3 as a special additional deduction for personal income tax, and develop inclusive childcare services to reduce the burden of family rearing.
A number of representatives were interviewed by reporters from Beijing Youth Daily and offered advice and suggestions on issues related to optimizing the fertility policy.
Huang Xihua, deputy to the National People's Congress
Explore the "3+2" mixed office model
"It is recommended that our country build a fertility-friendly society, so that more couples of childbearing age can afford to have children and raise children." During the two sessions this year, Huang Xihua, deputy to the National People's Congress, member of the Standing Committee of the Huizhou Municipal Committee of Guangdong Province and head of the propaganda department, once again paid attention to the optimization of the fertility policy and the Population policy adjustment.
In Huang Xihua's view, the fertility accumulation effect brought about by the comprehensive two-child policy has ended.
"The so-called accumulation of second-child births refers to the fact that many non-independence couples wanted to have a second child in the past, but the policy did not allow it. Therefore, the previously suppressed second-child birth wishes of these couples were released in the first few years of the policy liberalization." She He said that since the release of the "universal two-child" policy, there has been a brief birth boom, but the number of new populations has shown a trend of "high first and then low". By 2019, the natural population growth rate has dropped to 3.4‰, lower than " 2015, before the universal two-child policy was launched.
Huang Xihua believes that in the next few years, the accumulation effect of second-child births has ended, and the number of second-child births will also decline.
"The Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education, and the taxation department can study and give practical help to families and encourage active childbearing." Huang Xihua said that in terms of childcare, parents and the government should each bear half of the expenses for childcare. , which can further increase the reimbursement rate for infants and young children admitted to hospital.
She also suggested strengthening labor protection for female workers during pregnancy.
"Female workers should enjoy full paid maternity leave, and have accumulated working years when they return to work." Huang Xihua also suggested that single women should be protected for their reproductive rights.
"With the improvement of women's education and professional development, there are more and more older unmarried women in cities in my country, and many of them are unmarried women who have the ability and willingness to raise children independently. To this end, the National Health Commission and the Women's Federation should introduce The policy allows single women to enjoy the same reproductive rights and benefits as married women."
Huang Xihua also proposed that it is necessary to explore the use of "3+2" mixed office mode in qualified enterprises and institutions.
"The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People's Republic of China has organized pilot work, and actively promoted the mixed office model based on the nature of work and the actual employment situation of enterprises and institutions, allowing employees to choose 1-2 days of telecommuting every Wednesday and Friday to better balance work and family. life, and improve employee happiness and satisfaction.” Huang Xihua believes that the mixed office model is also beneficial to women’s career development and fertility rate.
Zhang Zhaoan, deputy to the National People's Congress
It is recommended to set up a special fertility reward fund
Zhang Zhaoan, a deputy to the National People's Congress and a researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, also paid attention to issues related to the implementation of the "three-child" policy.
He found that the current change in young people's concept of marriage and childbirth, the improvement of women's education level, the fierce competition in the workplace, and the high cost of child support will affect the implementation of the fertility policy and people's concept of fertility.
Zhang Zhaoan suggested that a supporting system should be built and improved.
He proposed that it is recommended to set up a special fertility reward fund in the national and local financial expenditures, and give a one-time financial reward to families who have a second or third child.
At the same time, it is necessary to increase tax cuts.
Zhang Zhaoan suggested that personal income tax deduction can be implemented according to the fertility rate. It is recommended to calculate the personal income tax exemption amount according to the number of children in each family, and appropriately reduce the tax rate or increase the exemption amount.
He also suggested to increase the special additional deduction items for pre-school child support to reduce the pressure on family parenting and increase the willingness of couples of childbearing age to have children.
Zhang Zhaoan also said that in many scenarios, subsidies can play a very good incentive role.
To this end, first, it is necessary to implement maternity subsidies, and give birth incentives to those who legally enjoy the maternity insurance system to have a second or third child; for those who are not employed and cannot enjoy maternity insurance, relevant policies can be formulated to provide uninsured people. The object is given a certain cash subsidy to achieve full coverage of maternity insurance.
Second, we must increase security subsidies, explore the establishment of progressive pregnancy health subsidies, hospital delivery subsidies, medical subsidies, childcare subsidies, education subsidies for the second and third children, as well as the implementation of low-income groups who do not meet the tax standards. Direct economic subsidies, etc.
At the same time, he suggested implementing a policy of vacation and employment preferences.
For families giving birth to a second or third child, the maternity leave and the man’s escort leave can be appropriately extended, or a flexible maternity leave system can be implemented, adding up the husband’s paternity leave and the wife’s maternity leave and maternity leave, and the family decides the husband’s How time is divided among wives.
In terms of improving childcare services, Zhang Zhaoan suggested that we should improve the infant care service and education system, increase the proportion of public kindergartens by rebuilding and expanding kindergartens, and vigorously encourage and support employers and social forces to participate in the establishment of childcare service institutions. Encourage private kindergartens to open nurseries, establish a 15-minute nursery life circle, and increase nursery institutions.
Jiang Shengnan, deputy to the National People's Congress
It is recommended that maternity leave be divided into two parts: mandatory maternity leave and flexible maternity leave
In this two sessions, Jiang Shengnan, a representative of the National People's Congress and a researcher at Wenzhou University, who has long been concerned about the protection of women's rights and interests, brought the "Suggestions on Improving the Regulations on Maternity Leave, Paternity Leave and Parental Leave". She suggested that maternity leave, paternity leave and parental leave should be uniformly formulated at the national level Increase the length of paid paternity leave for men, such as maternity-related leave regulations.
Jiang Shengnan believes that increasing the willingness of women of childbearing age to have children should not only focus on women of childbearing age, but also requires spouses, workplaces and society to provide a more convenient and low-cost assisted childcare environment.
Jiang Shengnan introduced that there is a huge difference in the number of days of maternity leave for women and paternity leave for men.
The range of maternity leave across the country is about 128 days to 190 days, while the paternity leave for men is 7 days to 30 days.
In addition, maternity leave, paternity leave and parental leave are more commonly found in the "Regulations on Labor Protection for Female Employees" and "Regulations on Population and Family Planning". The number of vacation days and details vary between provinces and cities.
This leads to different maternity leave and paternity leave enjoyed by employees in different regions of the same enterprise and institution. The difference in maternity leave can reach 2 months, and the difference in paternity leave can also be 21 days.
At present, the areas that increase parental leave range from 5 days to 15 days per year, and there is a large regional imbalance.
Jiang Shengnan suggested: First, formulate regulations on maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave and other maternity-related holidays at the national level.
Considering the differences in economic and demographic conditions between provinces and regions, certain flexibility can be given to regions with special needs under the premise of overall national deployment.
For example, after the state uniformly stipulates maternity leave, paternity leave, and parental leave, special regions are given the authority to add incentive leave within a certain range.
The second is to increase the paid paternity leave for men to 30-42 days.
The reference here is that the puerperium period of women is 42 days, which is the period when the spouse needs to take care of them.
Third, it is suggested to divide maternity leave into two parts: mandatory maternity leave and flexible maternity leave.
For example, the state stipulates 128 days of statutory maternity leave. The salary during this part of maternity leave is mainly paid by the social security fund like the current maternity leave. In addition, enterprises and institutions are required to clarify their own flexible maternity leave policies in internal systems such as employee handbooks.
Enterprises and institutions can use maternity leave as a benefit within their capabilities, and employees can also choose a unit that meets their expectations when choosing a career.
Fourth, parental leave should be promoted nationwide as soon as possible, and the specific number of days should take into account the number of children in the family.
Zhang Junting, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
It is recommended that local governments give financial support to families with three children
Zhang Junting, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chief physician of neurosurgery at Beijing Tiantan Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, is very concerned about how to increase the willingness to have children under the three-child policy.
In an interview with a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily, he said that at present, the country has liberalized the three-child policy. Although there are policies in place, the fertility rate of many young people is still not high.
Zhang Junting noticed that one of the difficulties lies in the fact that many families, considering that raising a child requires a lot of energy and economic costs, are likely to be reluctant to continue to have children, especially considering that no one has children.
In this regard, he suggested that all localities should introduce relevant policies according to local conditions, reduce the cost of childbirth, advocate free kindergarten for the third child, and encourage some large enterprises and units to provide free childcare services.
Zhang Junting said that in order to increase people's fertility rate, it is urgent to introduce relevant policies to encourage fertility, including maternity allowances, extending maternity leave, reducing taxes, etc., to reduce fertility costs, reduce economic pressure, and increase people's willingness to bear children.
Zhang Junting found in his research and visits that the cost of many private kindergartens is relatively high, which led many families to be reluctant to have more children considering the economic expenses.
"When it comes to taking care of children, most of them are dual-career families. At present, the common practice is to take the elderly over to take care of the children, but it is also very hard for the elderly to take care of two or three children. This is also the reason why young people are not willing to bear children. One of them.” In this regard, Zhang Junting said, “I hope the state can provide certain forms of subsidies to families with three children to reduce the cost of childbirth for young people, such as advocating that the third child can go to nurseries and kindergartens for free. At the same time, we can also advocate Some large units provide free childcare services for employees, especially for some dual-earner families, to help them reduce their burden."
Regarding this actual preferential policy, Zhang Junting believes that the national level does not necessarily have to be unified export, because the economic development status and development level of different regions are not the same, and the local government can give it to the three-child family according to its own local actual situation. Policy support or financial support to minimize worries about child rearing.
Fang Laiying, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference
Improve the level of community children's medical services
"As a society develops to this day, what needs to be considered is how to better realize the reform results for the people to share and improve the level of social public services. From the perspective of the entire population structure and the future development of the population, consideration must be given to the low birthrate, low fertility rate and population aging. How to balance the population structure and social needs under the current social conditions." Fang Laiying, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and vice president of the China Hospital Association, said in an interview with a reporter from Beijing Youth Daily that population policies are dynamically adjusted, and we must look at issues comprehensively. There are not only "birth" issues, but also "education" issues, pension issues, etc., involving relevant economic and social development support policies, comprehensive consideration should be given to the entire reproductive environment conditions under the current population structure and the reconstruction of the labor force.
Fang Laiying believes that the relevant departments should find ways to help reduce the cost of individual childbirth and provide better conditions for childbearing services, because childbirth is not entirely a personal matter.
At the same time, in terms of "education", we should pay attention to the growth cost of children, and think about how to help children create a better growth environment, such as giving more consideration to the rights and interests of children and women, child care issues, kindergarten layout, etc., the whole society More attention should be paid to children's growth.
From the perspective of primary health care, children's medicine is also an important aspect of support. Now, general hospitals have pediatric departments, and many places also have children's specialized hospitals. In terms of strengthening pediatric services, it is also possible to encourage the training of children skilled in pediatrics in grass-roots community health service centers. General practitioners, that is, train a group of community pediatricians to improve the level of children's medical services in the community.
"These are issues that must be considered and resolved in the field of public services," Fang Laiying said.
At the same time, he also pays attention to how to maintain social vitality from the other end of the population structure - the elderly group.
Fang Laiying advocated that the aging policy should be treated more actively, "Now when we talk about the elderly, we talk about 'elderly care', but in fact, we have to see that many elderly people in their 60s and even 70s are in poor health under modern hygiene conditions. It’s still very good, and people’s physical health has improved a lot now than in the past, and they should not only pay attention to old age, but also pay attention to old age.”
"I think it is necessary to create opportunities for the elderly to continue to contribute to society, to open up channels in this regard, to allow the elderly to participate more in society, and to give them the conditions and opportunities to create value."
This edition of the article / reporter Jiang Ruojing Meng Yaxu Li Zewei
Coordinator/Liu Xiaoxue