Recently, the official website of the Sichuan Provincial Health and Health Commission issued the "Sichuan Province Birth Registration Service Management Measures" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"). Population monitoring and birth service standard; second, the restriction on the number of births has been abolished, and all citizens who have children should apply for birth registration; third, the requirements for birth registration have been simplified.

  This "method" has sparked heated discussions among many netizens.

Some netizens expressed their support for the new regulation, thinking that it reflected the attitude of treating children equally regardless of whether they were born in wedlock or illegitimate;

  The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) noted that Sichuan Province is not the first to loosen birth registration regulations.

  Prior to this, the Anhui Provincial Health Commission has publicly solicited opinions from the public, and plans to no longer be restricted by the number of children and marriage registration when registering births; the Guangdong Provincial Health Commission will start on May 1, 2022. It has also greatly expanded the subject of birth registration, regardless of whether it is married or not, and covers the population living in the province with household registration and household registration in other provinces.

  What is the Birth Registration System?

What does it mean to cancel the "marriage restriction"?

Which signals are released?

On January 31, The Paper interviewed demographic experts and lawyers who have represented single mothers in several cases.

  Expert: It is a positive change to enhance the inclusiveness of fertility policy

  The Paper noticed that in the face of the so-called "childbirth out of wedlock", a staff member of the Population and Family Division of the Sichuan Provincial Health Commission pointed out in an interview with Jiupai News that the "Measures" are not to encourage unmarried children to have children, but to Guarantee the rights and interests of the "unmarried birth" group, and enjoy a series of maternal and child health care services after birth registration.

"Birth registration is purely a job of managing the birth population." Discussions involving ethics and law are another issue.

  The Paper published a review article pointing out that this new regulation in Sichuan is in line with the general trend of all fertility services.

Removing all kinds of restrictions and removing the moral evaluation among them is precisely to return the right of choice to every citizen. At the policy level, we only need to do a good job of guaranteeing the bottom line. The so-called "service-oriented government" is also reflected in this.

  "This is good news, especially for women." Zhang Jing, deputy director of Beijing Lianggao Law Firm and deputy director of the Marriage and Family Professional Committee of Beijing Lawyers Association, said in an interview with The Paper .

  From this series of policies, it can be seen that the Sichuan provincial government is loosening the policies related to birth control and will provide corresponding policy support.

For example, local governments will provide maternity subsidies, as well as related maternity leave and maternity leave.

"These are all adjustments made around solving the problem of low birth rate, and this should be the purpose of Sichuan's introduction of the "Measures." Zhang Jing said.

  Zhang Jing explained that birth registration is also called birth registration management, which essentially needs to fulfill the function of social management.

In the past, birth service registration was a system that matched family planning. At that time, in order to facilitate the management of the birth population, children could only be born within the scope of legal marriage.

  Zhang Jing said that the birth service registration is a purely work design for managing the birth population. They only register, count, manage, analyze, and report the birth of the population, which is the responsibility of the relevant departments.

"Registration of reproductive services is not only about issuing birth certificates, but also supporting measures such as contraception, such as receiving free contraceptive tools, which are all covered in this reproductive service registration."

  What does it mean to simplify the birth registration procedure?

Zhang Jing gave an example. In the past, every family who had given birth would go to the local health department to apply for a birth certificate. There are so many materials like a marriage certificate that can be processed.”

  Zhang Jing believes that the promulgation of this regulation can protect the legal rights of single mothers in childbearing to a certain extent. maternity leave.

  Yang Chenggang, vice president of the Chinese Population Association and a professor at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, told The Paper that there are two key points in the "Measures". One is that marriage is not a prerequisite for birth registration.

  Yang Chenggang believes that this is a very positive change that conforms to the development trend of social civilization.

Two years ago, the central government issued the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Optimizing Fertility Policies and Promoting Long-term Balanced Population Development", which emphasized the inclusiveness of the fertility policy.

  "The content of inclusiveness includes not only the tolerance of the number of births, but also the tolerance of illegitimate children and illegitimate births." Yang Chenggang mentioned that on the one hand, my country's formal marriage system, cultural traditions, and social customs all advocate marriage. On the other hand, illegitimate births should also be tolerated, and there should be no discrimination against illegitimate births, especially children born out of wedlock.

  Yang Chenggang said that birth registration means recognizing children's social rights, such as the right to normal household registration, education, and employment.

"Children born out of wedlock should also have the social rights that children born in wedlock have." Yang Chenggang said that judging from the changing trend of social civilization, the existence of the marriage system must not only protect marriage, but also protect individual rights in particular. It is to give enough respect to the rights of children.

Just because a child was not born in marriage, he cannot be deprived of his right to live in society.

  "In this sense, the change we are making now is a positive change." Yang Chenggang said.

  Second, Yang Chenggang has reservations about the requirement to simplify birth registration in the "Measures", especially the provision that birth registration can be carried out without the necessary legal certificates, but only with a statement of circumstances and personal commitment.

This move is easily exploited by criminals.

  "There are still some illegal and criminal activities such as child trafficking and women trafficking in our country." Yang Chenggang believes that the simplification of the process should be more reflected in improving the efficiency of birth registration and rationalizing the work process of birth registration, rather than Simple simplification does not mean that the work of birth registration has become simple and rough.

  Sichuan is not alone, other provinces and cities are also trying to loosen the restrictions

  The Paper found out that Sichuan Province is not the first to try to loosen the restrictions on birth registration.

As early as June 2021, the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Optimizing Fertility Policies to Promote Long-term Balanced Population Development" was issued, deciding to implement the three-child birth policy and supporting measures. , a population monitoring system throughout the life cycle, and closely monitor the birth situation and population trends."

  The Paper noticed that Guangdong, Anhui, Shaanxi, and Fujian provinces have relaxed the requirements for birth registration in their respective birth registration methods, and have not made marriage a restrictive condition.

In other provinces and cities, it is clearly mentioned in the birth registration that the marriage certificates of both spouses need to be submitted. In addition, some provinces such as Hebei Province have clearly stated in their birth registration management measures that those who have reached the legal age of marriage but have not fulfilled the marriage registration formalities give birth, the family planning administration The department notifies them in writing to handle the marriage registration within 3 months; if the marriage registration certificate is not obtained within the time limit, it will be treated as not meeting the statutory conditions for giving birth to children.

  In 2022, the "Notice of the Guangdong Provincial Health and Health Commission on Printing and Issuing the Management Measures for Birth Registration" issued by Guangdong Province stipulates that couples who plan to have children should fill in and submit the "Guangdong birth registration management method" to the handling agency or online platform with their ID cards or household registration books. Provincial Birth Registration Form".

Those who have not registered for marriage should fill in and submit the "Guangdong Birth Registration Form" at the handling agency or online platform with their ID card or household registration booklet.

  According to the "Anhui Business Daily" report, on August 30, 2022, the Anhui Provincial Health and Health Commission pointed out in the "Implementation Opinions on Improving the Birth Registration System" (draft for comments) that the objects of birth registration are: anyone who has children, Birth registration should be done.

The required materials for registration are the ID card or household registration booklet of both spouses; those who have not registered for marriage should hold the ID card or household registration booklet; if the registrant’s ID card or household registration booklet can be retrieved electronically, they are exempted from submitting.

  In June 2022, the Shaanxi Provincial Health and Health Commission issued the "Shaanxi Provincial Birth Registration Service Management Measures", which clarified that "a couple who has a child should go through the birth registration within six months after the child is born. If the child is born in other circumstances, Birth registration may also be granted.”

  On April 7, 2022, the Fujian Provincial Health Commission issued the "Notice on Doing a Good Job in Birth Registration", encouraging the further simplification of birth registration in light of the actual situation, and stimulating the public's willingness to have children.

The instructions for filling out the "Fujian Provincial Fertility Service Registration Form" attached to the notice pointed out that for marital status, unmarried births or extramarital births, the specific marital status (married or unmarried) of both men and women should be indicated, and unmarried births do not need to provide a marriage certificate.

(The Paper reporter Yu Yan intern Zhao Lin)