"Clearing Obstacles" for Birth Registration
As an unmarried mother, Peng Li's road to childbirth feels more difficult than others.
She was having difficulty almost at the first step.
According to the regulations, birth registration of children should be done.
However, in the birth registration system on the official website of the Hunan Health and Medical Commission, the applicable objects of registration are limited to "couples".
Peng Li failed to register smoothly.
Peng Li works as a female assembly line worker in a factory in a small county town. Although she pays five social insurances and one housing fund, she was told by the factory's personnel department that it would be difficult for her to enjoy maternity insurance benefits because she could not register for births.
According to national law, maternity insurance is a social insurance system in which the state and society provide life security and material assistance in a timely manner when employees temporarily suspend their labor due to childbirth, mainly including maternity allowances and reimbursement of maternity medical expenses.
At present, many places regard "married and registered for birth" as a precondition for enjoying maternity insurance-related benefits.
With no maternity allowance and the child needed money for milk powder, Peng Li persisted in working until two weeks before giving birth, and was finally persuaded to go home by the foreman late at night while working overtime.
Peng Li recalled that the foreman told her that going to have a baby "is equivalent to taking a month's sick leave, and when you come back, your position should have been replaced."
In November 2022, Peng Li gave birth to a child and lost her job.
Now that Peng Li's child is 4 months old, she still has not registered for birth, and there is no news about the benefits related to maternity insurance that she should enjoy.
Recently, the Sichuan Provincial Health and Health Commission announced the "Sichuan Provincial Birth Registration Service Management Measures" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures"), which will be officially implemented on February 15 this year, which canceled restrictions on whether the registered objects are married or not, and the number of children. condition.
This change in Sichuan may mean that unmarried mothers like Peng Li can enjoy the rights they and their children should have through the changes in the birth registration system.
Unmarried mothers blocked from birth registration threshold
Recently, a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily contacted more than 10 mothers with similar experiences. They have different stories behind them, but they have a common goal-to successfully complete the birth registration and fight for the rights that they and their children deserve.
Some people were told at the hospital window that they must have birth registration in order to enjoy maternity insurance reimbursement.
Some people have heard from the administrative department of the work unit that applying for maternity allowances requires birth registration.
However, they were unable to complete birth registration on the official website of the local health commission or the government app.
At present, in most parts of our country, the birth registration system applies to "couples who meet the legal birth conditions and have children", and this group of unmarried mothers is blocked from this threshold.
In addition, in some regions, birth registration is a necessary material for enjoying maternity insurance benefits.
In addition to the pain of pregnancy, these unwed mothers face even greater pressure.
In November 2022, Huang Ya, who worked in an advertising company in Jiangsu, wanted to apply for maternity leave. The human resources of the company told her that she could take maternity leave, but according to the regulations of the Medical Insurance Bureau, without birth registration, there would be no maternity allowance.
According to the "Regulations on Maternity Insurance for Employees of Jiangsu Province" promulgated in 2014, maternity allowance is wage compensation obtained by employees during maternity leave or family planning surgery leave in accordance with relevant national and provincial regulations.
During maternity leave or vacation, if the maternity allowance enjoyed by employees is lower than the standard of their maternity leave or pre-vacation salary, the employer shall make up for it; if it is higher than the standard of their maternity leave or pre-vacation salary, the employer shall not withhold it.
Without maternity allowance, Huang Ya can only continue to work in the company, otherwise she will have to take "unpaid leave".
One day at noon at the end of 2022, while she was still at her work station, her water broke, and her colleagues immediately called 120.
Ten minutes later, an ambulance arrived.
The doctor who accompanied her treated her immediately, and a large amount of amniotic fluid stained her clothes, and the colleague who accompanied her to the hospital cried out in fright.
Fortunately, although the child was born prematurely, the mother and child are safe.
In fact, in August 2022, Liu Juan, deputy director of the Treatment and Security Department of the National Medical Insurance Administration, made it clear that as long as the payment responsibility for maternity insurance is fulfilled, there is no threshold for the enjoyment of benefits at the national level.
This shows that unmarried mothers do not need to provide birth registration, marriage certificate and other materials when enjoying maternity insurance-related benefits.
"Some laws, regulations, and normative documents set restrictions on women's enjoyment of maternity insurance benefits based on the original family planning policy, which no longer meet the requirements of the Party Central Committee's decision-making and national reform on optimizing the fertility policy." September 7, 2022, National Liang Ying, director of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said that the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress will promote the in-depth cleanup of normative documents related to family planning, and urge the timely elimination of improper restrictions on maternity insurance benefits.
In January 2023, the "Notice of the Jiangsu Provincial Medical Security Bureau on Relevant Issues Concerning the Enjoyment of Maternity Insurance Benefits" clarified that employers and their employees can enjoy maternity insurance benefits according to regulations if they participate in maternity insurance and pay the maternity insurance premiums in full and on time , but the implementation time is only retroactive to those who give birth on or after September 7, 2022.
This means that unmarried mothers born before September 7, 2022 cannot enjoy the corresponding treatment.
"It's been a month since the document was released, but the corresponding application process has not been changed. I went to the local government to ask about it." Huang Ya said in confusion.
In February 2023, a number of unmarried mothers from Jiangsu told reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily that they still need to complete birth registration in their prefectures and cities to enjoy relevant birth benefits.
Birth registration embodies the function of population monitoring and birth service
"Birth registration is a purely management of childbearing population, which has been carried out in many provinces." In January 2023, after the promulgation of Sichuan's "Measures", the staff of the Sichuan Health and Health Commission explained to the media.
Why did this "pure work of managing the childbearing population" become a hindrance for unmarried mothers to enjoy childbirth-related rights and interests?
According to Zhang Jing, a lawyer at Beijing Lianggao Law Firm and an expert in marriage and family law, the birth registration system evolved from the previous birth certificate (family planning service certificate) system.
"Previously, when a family was only allowed to have one child, only with a birth permit could they enjoy a series of rights and interests granted to the child and parents after birth. There may be social maintenance payments.”
In order to cooperate with the comprehensive two-child policy, in May 2016, the former National Health and Family Planning Commission issued the "Guiding Opinions on Doing a Good Job in Birth Registration Services", fully implementing the birth registration service system, and the birth certificate was withdrawn from the stage of history.
In the same year, Guangdong Province allowed unmarried mothers to register for birth. The Interim Measures for the Administration of Birth Registration and Rebirth Approval of the Guangdong Provincial Health and Family Planning Commission stipulated that "the first and second children born without marriage registration , handle birth registration according to the provisions of these Measures.”
In 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" clarified the functions of the birth registration system. Population Trends".
In December 2021, the "Guiding Opinions of the General Office of the National Health Commission on Improving the Birth Registration System" requires improving the birth registration process and simplifying registration requirements.
After the release of this opinion, many provinces began to optimize relevant regulations.
On May 1, 2022, the "Guangdong Provincial Health Commission's Birth Registration Management Measures" was officially implemented, stipulating that children do not need to be approved again, and a full-caliber birth registration system is implemented. The previous "birth registration certificate" was changed to "birth registration certificate". The birth registration certificate is not used as the basis for whether the relevant birth behavior complies with the "Guangdong Provincial Population and Family Planning Regulations".
In June 2022, the Shaanxi Provincial Health and Health Commission issued the "Shaanxi Province Birth Registration Service Management Measures", which clearly stipulates that couples who have children should go through birth registration within 6 months after pregnancy and the birth of the child. If there are children, birth registration may also be granted.”
In January 2023, the "Sichuan Province Birth Registration Service Management Measures" was promulgated. The staff of the Sichuan Health and Health Commission stated that the focus of birth registration will be shifted to the birth intention and birth results, and return to the standard of population monitoring and birth services.
"Single people also have reproductive rights, and everyone has the right to have their own offspring," said Jiang Yue, a professor at Xiamen University.
However, according to reporters from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily, in many provinces, there are still some restrictive conditions in the birth registration system.
Fertility policy should be inclusive of all groups
In November 2020, the "Proposals of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development and the Long-term Goals for 2035" proposed for the first time to "enhance the inclusiveness of childbirth policies".
"Traditional ideas believe that children should be born in families of married couples, because the family can provide the most complete protection for the growth of children. Therefore, the previous childbearing policy basically did not provide childbearing protection for unmarried mothers." The 13th National Huang Qi, member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and part-time vice chairman of the Shanghai Women's Federation, pointed out in an interview with a reporter from China Youth Daily and China Youth Daily.
In recent years, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has organized several times to clean up laws, regulations, and normative documents related to family planning, and urged relevant parties to abolish regulations on the collection of social maintenance fees, abolish regulations on punishment and sanction related to family planning, and put personal birth status Relevant regulations related to enrollment, household registration, employment, etc., as well as undue restrictive regulations on enjoying maternity insurance benefits, etc.
The staff of the Sichuan Health Commission stated that the "measures" are not to encourage unmarried children to have children, but to protect the rights and interests of unmarried births.
According to data from the Sichuan Health and Health Commission, citizens can receive free services including pre-marital medical examinations, pre-pregnancy eugenic health examinations, folic acid supplementation, and maternal health management after registering for birth.
Regarding the public's misunderstanding of this system, Zhang Jing, a lawyer from Beijing Lianggao Law Firm and an expert in marriage and family law, emphasized that the essence of birth registration has no causal relationship with ethical illegitimate births, but to monitor the birth situation and Demographic trends cannot serve the stability of marriage.
"The birth registration system is not a fundamental measure to solve illegitimate births, nor can it undertake this function."
Lawyer Wei Shaoling, senior partner of Beijing Jingshi Shanghai Law Firm, believes that the introduction of the Sichuan "Measures" is a progress. "It is more from the perspective of protecting the rights and interests of unmarried mothers and their children. It can help them remove certain obstacles when registering for birth and enjoying relevant benefits.”
"After fulfilling the obligation to pay maternity insurance, you should enjoy the corresponding rights when you give birth to a child." An unmarried mother expressed her expectation in this way. Many unmarried mothers like her are still waiting to pass the birth registration and obtain the corresponding rights. There are rights and interests.
(Peng Li and Huang Ya are pseudonyms to protect the privacy of the interviewees)
China Youth Daily·China Youth Daily, trainee reporter Liu Yinheng, reporter Xian Oujie Source: China Youth Daily
Version 10, February 09, 2023