Developments and characteristics of fertility support policies in China over the past decade

Developments and characteristics of fertility support policies in China over the past decade | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Developments and characteristics of fertility support policies in China over the past decade Liming Chu, Jiawei Duan, Qi Zhang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4670590/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 3 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Introduction Encouraging childbearing is an important measure to optimise the current age structure of the population, and the core fertility support policy is fertility-friendly as well as family-friendly. Materials and methods This paper statistically analyses the fertility support policies of the country and provinces and cities in the past ten years to clarify the developmental changes and improvement trends of fertility support policies. Results Around the evolution of the policy theme, the fertility support policy shows the development trend of sprouting to shaping, unidirectional to expanding the dimension and increasing the surface, auxiliary to active, valuing birth to valuing parenting, family to socialisation, adjusting the number of births to reducing the cost of childbearing, raising and educating. Discussion and conclusion Further attention needs to be paid to the holistic, systemic, family and gender perspectives of the policy. fertility support holistic gender perspective family development Background The Twentieth National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) put forward for the first time the policy objective of "establishing a system of policies to support childbirth", with an emphasis on lowering the costs of childbearing, child-rearing and education. As the issue of fertility concerns the development and future of the country, China has always attached great importance to the adjustment of the fertility policy, from the two-child policy to the three-child policy, with different emphasis on the construction of the fertility support system at different stages. 2021, China began to implement the three-child policy, however, China's population fertility level and the situation is not optimistic, and the continuous decline in the level of fertility has attracted the attention of the Chinese government and the society as a whole, which is mainly manifested in the following ways The delay in the age at which women of childbearing age give birth to one child as well as a general decrease in the willingness of ordinary families to have two or more children. Maternity support policies are designed to safeguard women's rights and interests and, through the provision of a series of support measures, to help women balance their careers and families and improve the social status and quality of life of the female population. At present, ten years after the adjustment of the fertility policy, the fertility support policy is in the exploratory stage. In the face of the ageing of fewer children under negative population growth, sorting out and summarising the development process of China's fertility support policy in the past ten years not only helps to deepen the understanding of China's balanced development of the population, but also helps us to grasp the characteristics of China's development of and changes in its fertility policy, as well as the key points and difficult issues in the field of fertility policy at the present stage, which is helpful in clarifying the It will also help us to grasp the characteristics of the development of China's fertility policy and the key and difficult issues in the area of fertility policy at the current stage, thus helping to clarify the direction and ideas for further improving the fertility support policy. Results In order to clearly show the development status and trend of China's maternity support policy in the past decade, we try to categorise the policy provisions. In this paper, we use time support, economic subsidies and service provision as the main categorisation basis, which basically covers all the contents of maternity support policies. Since policies and regulations will affect the specific implementation across the country and even around the country, we use policies and regulations as an entry point to summarise the characteristics of the three types of maternity support policies from a statistical point of view. Generous extension of maternity leave, adjustment of paternity leave, additional parental leave, and provision of multiple time support Time support is the main element of maternity support policies, which focuses on women's maternity and breastfeeding periods and includes maternity, paternity and parental leave. Theoretically speaking, leave policies mitigate the conflict between workers and their employment, childbearing and parenting behaviours mainly by providing them with guaranteed time for care. In reality, the main body of child-rearing is the family, and women are the main bearers. Maternity leave increases the protection of women's rights and interests and guarantees women more adequate time for post-natal recovery and care of newborns. From the development trend of time support policies, the maternity leave policy has evolved from a one-way burden to multiple sharing, and is characterised by sharing between husband and wife and sharing between maternity and parenthood. The target beneficiaries of maternity leave have evolved from female-dominated to parent-sharing. First, the mechanism for sharing the cost of leave has been improved, from the main body being the mother to valuing the shared responsibility of childcare among working parents. Second, the content of time support has been diversified, with the generous extension of maternity leave, the adjustment of paternity leave, and the addition of parental leave. Maternity leave is the most basic policy element in maternity policy, and with the development of society, economy and culture, maternity leave has been extended and additional parental leave has been established to protect maternity security and parental rights. With the implementation of the comprehensive two-child policy, in accordance with Article 25 of the Population and Family Planning Law (2015 Amendment), couples who give birth to children in accordance with laws and regulations may be granted incentives or other welfare benefits in the form of extended maternity leave in various places[ 1 ], the specific extended maternity leave and welfare benefits may vary from region to region, and policies will be formulated accordingly in each region based on the local situation. Prior to the introduction of the comprehensive two-child policy, this was usually referred to as "nursing leave" or "care leave" in local population and family planning regulations, and in 2016, the population and family planning regulations were amended to accommodate the comprehensive two-child policy. "In 2021, China amended the Population and Family Planning Law: the State supports the introduction of parental leave under certain conditions as a supplement to the maternity leave system. As shown in Table 1 , from the time support policies of each province, the maternity leave model of "basic maternity leave + incentive maternity leave" is fully covered. The national statutory basic maternity leave is 98 days, and there are also 30–90 days of incentive leave in various places. In conjunction with the adjustment of the maternity policy, after the introduction of the two-child policy, nearly 50 per cent of provinces and cities have extended the maternity leave by 30 days, i.e., 128 days of incentive leave; after the introduction of the three-child policy, the maternity leave has been extended again. So far, nearly 50% of China's provinces and cities have extended to 158 days or more, with the minimum number of maternity leave days being 158, such as in Beijing and Shanxi, and the maximum reaching 188 days, reflecting China's active extension of maternity leave in order to encourage childbearing, and to provide mothers with more adequate time for childcare. Paternity leave has also been adjusted, with nearly half of the provinces and cities with 15 days of leave, and over 50% of the provinces and cities with 15 days of leave. In terms of the length of paternity leave leave, the shortest is 7 days and the longest is 30 days, such as in Henan, but there are also some provinces that do not have paternity leave, such as Beijing and Guangdong, etc. The adjustment of paternity leave shows that China is gradually paying attention to women's rights and interests in childbearing, and the setting of paternity leave places more emphasis on men's role in childbearing, which is conducive to reducing the occupational discrimination against women as a result. The length of parental leave varies and is concentrated on three children. With the exception of the Tibet Autonomous Region, 30 provinces and cities in China have already set up parental leave, and from the point of view of the length of parental leave, there is not much difference between provinces and cities in China, with more than 60 per cent of provinces and cities stipulating that the husband and wife should each take 10 days of leave per year before the child reaches the age of three, and some provinces providing 5, 15 or 20 days of leave, thus better conveying the value of equal parenting between men and women. Table 1 Distribution of the main elements of fertility support policies Policy content two-child fertility policy Typical provinces the universal two-child policy Typical provinces third-child policy Typical provinces Policy features Time Support maternity 128 days in 16 provinces Fujian;Shanxi 158 days in 16 provinces and 128 days in 7 provinces (minimum) Hainan,henan(3 month) 158 days in 14 provinces and 188 days in 5 provinces Jiangsu(128 days) Full coverage of the maternity leave model of "basic maternity leave + incentive maternity leave". paternity 10 days in 8 provinces, 15 days in 7 provinces, 7 days in 6 provinces Henan(one month) 15 days in 19 provinces and 25 days in 3 provinces Henan(one month) 15 days for 15 provinces, 30 days for 5 provinces, 20 days for 5 provinces, 25 days for 4 provinces Shanghai (10 days) Nearly half of the provinces and cities with 15 days of holidays parental leave under implementation 10 days in 21 provinces, ranging from 5, 15 and 20 days in other provinces Beijing and Shanghai: 5 days Chongqing: 5–10 days Jilin: 20 days The length of parental leave varies and is concentrated on three children. Source of data: collated from the National, Provincial and Municipal Regulations on Population and Family Planning. Explore a system of financial assistance, mainly cash payments, to form a stepped financial assistance system. Economic subsidies are an important instrument of maternity support policies, which mainly include policies such as maternity allowances, childcare subsidies, maternity grants, tax breaks and housing concessions. Theoretically, economic subsidy policies are able to smooth out the opportunity cost of raising children and iron out fluctuations in family income. In reality, government-led economic subsidies related to childbearing have helped to shorten the birth interval, and the effects of the "comprehensive two-child" policy will be briefly released in 2018–2020. The effects of the "comprehensive two-child" policy will be briefly released in 2018–2020. In terms of the development trend of economic subsidy policies, the State, in conjunction with fiscal and tax measures, has stepped up its efforts in terms of the forms and standards of economic subsidies for children and parents, with a view to reducing the burden of child- rearing on the family and providing all-around protection for family child-rearing, thus reflecting support for the economic burden that women face as a result of childbearing. First, the focus has gradually been on the "child-rearing" stage, and the forms of economic subsidies have been expanded from the initial maternity allowance and childbirth reimbursement to include child-rearing subsidies and housing concessions, as shown in Table 2 . Secondly, one-off subsidies are the mainstay, with living allowances, childbirth nutritional supplements and childcare allowances all being one-off subsidies. This paper focuses on two aspects of the content of economic subsidies: housing incentives and childcare subsidies. On the one hand, high housing prices are an important factor affecting fertility intentions[ 2 ], according to the development trend of the housing system reform, with the increase in the number of children born, the family's demand for housing is also increasing. Based on this, the Guiding Opinions on Further Improving and Implementing Support Measures for Active Childbearing, jointly issued by 17 departments, including the National Health and Health Commission and the National Development and Reform Commission, sets out a series of requirements for housing, including accelerating the improvement of the housing security system and accurately implementing policies favouring the purchase and rental of housing. Raising the standard for government subsidies for infant and toddler childcare will not only effectively reduce the operating costs of childcare institutions for children aged 0 to 3 years, improve and develop a system of inclusive childcare services, but will also guide childcare institutions to lower the price of childcare fees and effectively reduce the burden of childcare on the public, which will be conducive to the creation of a childbearing-friendly society, and will provide strong support for the promotion of the long-term and balanced development of the population. On the other hand, the trend in the development of child-care services is that they are "family-oriented and supplemented by child care". The problems of "difficult" and "expensive" pre-school education have received widespread attention from the government, which has ushered in a new development in childcare. With the implementation of the comprehensive "two-child" policy in 2016, the increase in female employment, the normalisation of residential separation, and the nuclearisation of family size, and many other factors, from a practical point of view, China's families have a sharp increase in the rigid demand for infant and toddler childcare services, and there are about 40 million infants and toddlers under the age of three, and more than 30% of infant and toddler families have a demand for childcare. There are about 40 million infants and toddlers under the age of 3, and more than 30% of the families with infants and toddlers have a demand for childcare, which is manifested in a prominent contradiction between the total amount of insufficient and process adaptation. By the end of 2021, the number of childcare places per 1,000 population will be 2.03, a considerable gap from the target of 4.5 proposed in the Outline of the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan. In some areas, there is a contradiction between supply and demand, with parents' demand exceeding institutions' capacity.2022 As of July 2022, the utilisation rate of childcare places in Beijing was only 35.4 per cent, indicating that the lack of total number of places and an imbalance in the number of places available have resulted in an oversupply of childcare services and a low level of effectiveness of such services. With women's entry into the labour market and the development of smaller family sizes, the problem of unattended infants and toddlers is becoming increasingly prominent. Improving the system of inclusive childcare services and exploring the establishment of a childcare subsidy system is an important policy tool for reducing the burden of childbearing and raising expectations for childbearing; it is a key task in the protection of "one small" service, and is a key way to promote people's well-being and early childhood development. In terms of housing preferential policies in the provinces, housing preferential policies are tilted in favour of multi-child families, with the highest (Shangyu) subsidy amounting to 300,000 yuan. The housing policies cover such areas as increasing the amount of provident fund loans, providing subsidies for home purchases, and offering favourable interest rates on loans. These policies aim to provide subsidies to families that respond positively to the fertility policy, so as to reduce the rise in housing costs caused by having multiple children. In terms of the amount of subsidy, for example, Leshan in Sichuan, Linze in Gansu, and Haian in Jiangsu enjoy subsidies for home purchase, ranging from 5,000 to 30,000 yuan on average. In terms of home purchase policies, Lanzhou in Gansu, Wuxi in Jiangsu and Hangzhou in Zhejiang allow families with multiple children to purchase one additional home; Mianyang in Sichuan, Hengyang in Hunan and Zhoushan in Zhejiang relax provident fund loan amounts for families with multiple children, increasing them to 700,000-800,000 yuan, and Beijing and other places take care of the housing types of families with multiple children. At present, nearly 60% of the provinces and cities have introduced a housing policy for families with multiple children, from the introduction of the policy distribution of cities, mostly concentrated in second-tier and third- and fourth-tier cities, fewer first-tier cities. As can be seen from Table 3 , the scope of childcare subsidies focuses on families with two or three children, and the recipients of the subsidies are divided by child, forming a system of economic subsidies in the form of a ladder. Less than 10 per cent of the provinces and cities involved in granting childcare subsidies for one child, such as Shenzhen, Wenzhou and Zhangye, etc.; provinces and cities with subsidies for two or more children account for 50 per cent of the country as a whole, such as Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, which grants a one-time childbirth subsidy of 3,000 and 4,500 yuan in childcare subsidies for giving birth to one child; a one-time childbirth subsidy of 5,000 yuan and 6,000 yuan in childcare subsidies for giving birth to two children; and a one-time childbirth subsidy of 10,000 yuan and 9,000 yuan in childcare subsidies for giving birth to three children. For the birth of a third child, a one-time childbirth subsidy of 10,000 yuan and a childcare subsidy of 9,000 yuan are granted. Table 2 Summary details of multiple economic subsidy policies by region Province Childcare allowance Public housing priority Home Purchase (Rental) Benefits tax reduction Priority for public housing allocation Accommodation in the choice of public rental housing types Increase in home purchase targets Home purchase subsidy Enhancement of Loan Amount special additional deduction for personal tax Corporate tax incentives Beijing √ √ Anhui √ √ Gansu √ √ √ √ Guangdong √ √ √ √ Guizhou √ Heilongjiang √ √ √ Hunan √ √ √ √ Ningxia √ Jiangsu √ √ √ √ √ √ Shaanxi √ √ Zhejiang √ √ √ √ Guangxi √ Jilin √ Sichuan √ √ √ √ Hubei √ √ Xinjiang √ Shandong √ √ Shanxi √ Liaoning √ √ √ Yunnan √ Hebei √ Henan √ Jiangxi √ √ Source of data: collated from provincial and municipal policies. Table 2 summarises the content of the economic subsidies in each province, and Table 3 shows the details of the childcare subsidies in each region. Table 3 Details of childcare subsidies by location Province City One child (CNY) Second child (CNY) Three children (CNY) Hubei Wuhan 6000 Jingmen 18000 Anlu 7200 14400 Huanggang 2000 3800 Zhejiang Hangzhou 5000 20000 Shaoxing 10800 56100 Wenzhou 1000 2000 3000 Longgang 1000 4000 5000 Lishui 18000 18000 Shaanxi Ankang 2000 24600 48200 Baoji 3000 5000 Hanzhong 2000 10000 Xinjiang Shihezi 18000 36000 Kelamayi 18000 36000 Shandong Jinan 21600 21600 Shanxi Jincheng 5000 5000 Sichuan Panzhihua 18000 18000 Liaoning Shenyang 18000 Ningxia 2000 11200 Hunan Changsha 10000 Yunnan 4400 7400 Hebei Hengshui 5000 Jiangsu Nantong 7200 14400 Guangdong Shenzhen 7500 11000 19000 Source of data: collated from provincial and municipal policies. Improvement of the universal childcare service system and continuous efforts to enhance the provision of childcare services Service provision is an important policy tool for the socialisation of childcare, which mainly includes reproductive medicine, healthcare services and childcare and education services. Theoretically, it can effectively reduce the operating costs of child-care institutions for children aged 0 to 3, improve and develop a system of inclusive child- care services, and also guide child-care institutions to lower the price of admission fees, effectively reducing the burden of child- rearing on the public. From a practical point of view, the rigid demand for childcare services for infants and toddlers has increased dramatically in China, with the number of infants and toddlers under the age of 3 reaching about 40 million, and more than 30 per cent of the families of infants and toddlers indicating that there is a demand for childcare, China's kindergarten services for children over the age of 3 have a high degree of popularity, with more than 73 percent in 2019; in 2020, the kindergarten enrolment rate for school-age children will reach 80 percent[ 3 ]. From the perspective of the development trend in service provision, childcare services are characterised by a "family-oriented approach, supplemented by childcare". With the implementation of the comprehensive "two-child" policy in 2016, childcare services are increasing, and the service system for maternity services and childcare has basically taken shape; recently, the Decision and Opinions clearly set out a number of complementary service provision measures, which are mainly reflected in the socialisation of the main body of the care work and the social sharing of care costs. This paper focuses mainly on subsidies for childcare, as shown in Table 4 , and from the perspective of provincial service provision policies, each province has implemented service provision policies in accordance with local conditions, taking into account a variety of parameters, such as the level of regional development, the age structure of the population, and the level of old-age pensions. For example, Jiangxi Province is the first province in the country to introduce a system of subsidies for infants and toddlers to attend childcare at the provincial level. It is currently divided into two forms: the issuance of childcare subsidy vouchers and the issuance of monthly childcare subsidies. The first, such as Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, Chengdu in Sichuan Province, and Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province, has introduced a policy of subsidising the admission of infants and toddlers to childcare, so that where infants and toddlers are currently under three years of age,each child can apply for a 1,000 yuan subsidy voucher for childcare consumption. The second is a direct cash subsidy for childcare, which varies from 300 RMB/child/month (Liaocheng, Anhui Province) to 1,000 RMB/child/month (Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province). The highest subsidy is for female talents with an annual income of more than 120,000 yuan who work for enterprises in the Jinan Hi-Tech Zone, who are given a financial subsidy of up to 3,000 yuan per month, based on 50 per cent of the amount of the invoice for childcare expenses. Table 4 Details of infant and childcare subsidies Province City Subsidies for infant and toddler care(CNY) Anhui Wuhu Two children: 1,000 per child per month; three (more) children: 2,000 per child per month Guangde 500 per child per month Liaocheng 300 per child per month Qingdao Two children: 300 per child per month; three children: 380 per child per month Jinan Female talents with an annual income of more than 120,000 will be given a financial subsidy of up to 3,000 per month at 50 per cent of the invoiced amount of childcare expenses Jiangxi --- 300 per child per month Zhejiang Zhoushan Two children: 500 per child per month; three children: 1,000 per child per month Shaoxing Two children: 500 per child per month; three children: 800 per child per month Huzhou 400 per child per month Guangdong Shenzhen Each childcare subsidy voucher worth 1,000 per child Sichuan Chengdu Each childcare subsidy voucher worth 1,000 per child Jiangsu Lianyungang Subsidy of 1,000 for contributions above 3,000 Hubei Wuhan Each childcare subsidy voucher worth $ 1,000 per child Piloting and encouraging flexible working patterns to expand the employment space for childcare women The establishment of "mother posts" is a useful exploration to promote the expansion of employment space for childcare women, and is also a "win-win-win" move for the benefit of the people and enterprises in terms of women's employment, employment by enterprises, and family care. Under the three-child policy, how to balance work and family, how to work and bring up children has become a problem for some women. The flexible work system not only helps women's groups to better realise their self-worth, but also fully exploits the employment potential of the female labour force and alleviates the problem of enterprises' difficulties in employing workers[ 4 ]. In terms of trends in the development of work styles, parents are guaranteed a reasonable amount of time to care for and accompany their children in accordance with the care needs of childcare mothers, and flexible working, job-sharing, telecommuting and other programmes are being carried out in a conducive manner. The "mother's post" work model is a good attempt under the three-child policy, which relaxes labour control over a portion of the employed through a 'core-supportive' model of labour allocation, and is particularly suited to the special employment needs of childbearing women. employment needs. These flexible work patterns provide women with new career development opportunities and paths, and help them reduce the time squeeze caused by work-life. Without affecting the basic productivity of enterprises, this has helped to create jobs, increase family income and achieve self-development for women. The Guangdong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Welfare and the Provincial Women's Federation have issued the "Implementation Opinions on Promoting Women's Employment by Implementing the Employment Mode of "Mothers' Posts" (Draft for Opinion Solicitation)", which proposes the creation of a maternity-friendly working environment, and encourages employers to set up "mothers' posts" workshops, It also encourages employers to set up "mothers' workshops" and "mothers' production lines", and to establish "women's homes" to provide welfare infant and child care services for their employees, which sends a clear and positive signal. At present, all regions are still at the exploratory stage, and have not implemented these programmes on the ground as they have in Guangdong, but the ACWF has indicated that it will further promote the experience of flexible employment in the "mothers' posts", expand the "mothers' posts" in new industries, and promote women's access to fuller, higher-quality, and more secure employment. (d) Promoting women's access to fuller, higher- quality and more secure employment. Towards the direction of family- friendliness and female-friendliness, a greater consensus is being forged and more strength is being gathered. In summary, the maternity support policy is now based on time support, supplemented by economic subsidies and complemented by service provision. In terms of time support, maternity leave has been generously extended, paternity leave has been adjusted, and parental leave has been added, easing the pressure that infants and young children place on families and women to give birth to and raise children; in terms of economic subsidies, a system of economic subsidies has been explored, with cash payments as the mainstay, to help couples of child-bearing age to resolve their difficulties in giving birth. In terms of service provision, the universal childcare service system has been improved, and childcare services have continued to gain momentum, with the family remaining an important player in the provision of childbirth support services. In terms of employment promotion, flexible working methods are encouraged to expand the employment space for child-rearing women. On the whole, the maternity support policy system is still in the exploratory stage in terms of reducing the costs of childbirth, parenting and education. Findings The classification and statistical analysis of "maternity support policies" visually reflects the distribution of the relevant contents of "maternity support policies" in the past ten years, and further analyses of connotations will help us to find out the focus and direction of the development of maternity support policies, so as to show the thematic changes and development trend of the development of maternity support policies in recent years more clearly. The analysis further helps us to identify the focus and direction of development of the maternity support policy, so as to more clearly show the thematic changes and development trend of the maternity support policy in recent years. In terms of changes in policy content, there has been a development trend from germination to shaping, from one-way to broadening and expanding the scope of policies. Since the "two children alone" policy was introduced in 2011, China's population and fertility policy has undergone significant adjustments, and related supporting measures have been introduced since then. Maternity leave is the basis of the maternity support policy,and after the implementation of the "two children alone" policy in 2013, the supporting measures focused on extending maternity leave as the main time support, which was at the nascent stage of the related economic and social support. After the implementation of the "comprehensive two-child policy" in 2016, supporting measures focused on economic subsidies in the form of tax incentives and the provision of public services for children under the age of 3. After the introduction of the "three-child policy" in 2021, supporting measures were implemented in the form of parental leave, childcare subsidies and housing concessions, meaning that the maternity support policy has basically taken shape. The adjustment of the fertility policy has opened a new stage of China's population development, and the continuous revision of the Population and Family Planning Law means that the fertility support policy has gradually expanded from a single type of policy to include finance, taxation, insurance, education, housing, employment, etc., and is distributed in the fields of education, employment and social services, etc., so as to realise multidimensional and multifaceted positive fertility support measures to promote fertility and family development, and to provide a basic guideline for the fertility support This provides a basic guideline for the construction of a maternity support policy system. From the change of value orientation, there is a development trend from supporting to active, from valuing life to valuing education. Maternity support policy originated from the comprehensive two- child maternity policy and supporting policies, and the 19th National Congress Report first proposed "promoting the matching and convergence of maternity policy and related economic and social policies", which mainly assisted the landing of the two-child policy at this stage. In the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Optimising Fertility Policy and Promoting Long-term Balanced Population Development and the Guiding Opinions on Further Improving and Implementing Active Fertility Support Measures, emphasis has been placed on the construction of an "active" system of fertility support policies, which implies that the fertility support policy has evolved from being liberalised to being active. As China's economy and society develop, people's values towards childbearing and childcare have changed. In the past, society paid more attention to childbearing; now, society is gradually shifting to a focus on childcare, gradually forming a full-cycle fertility support system. The Government has begun to emphasise the importance of childcare, introducing a series of policies to support childcare, and strengthening its investment in and management of childcare services, such as improving childcare services, providing childcare subsidies, etc., and developing children's medical care, education and healthcare, with greater emphasis on "nurturing" and "parenting" to help parents take better care of their children. More emphasis has been placed on "nurturing" and "parenting" to help parents take better care of their children. In terms of changing targeting, there has been a development from family to socialisation, from adjusting the number of births to reducing the costs of childbearing, parenting and education. Raising young children is an unshirkable obligation of every family, and the main body of care labour is mainly borne by families. The introduction of the separate two-child policy has meant an increase in the burden of childcare on families, and the issues of child-rearing and education have become a difficult problem for families of double- income workers. With the publicisation and marketisation of infant and toddler care, the burden of childcare on families has been eased, the dilemma of motherhood for working women has been resolved, and the system of universal childcare services has continued to improve, promoting the socialisation of the costs of childbearing, with the development of the policy of support for childbearing gradually taking on a trend of "remedial socialisation". The two-child policy has raised the number of births to two, and the accompanying socio-economic support measures, such as maternity protection, reflect the fact that the goal of maternity support is to seek to adjust the number of births. However, having children requires comprehensive consideration of a range of factors such as health status, economic income, reproductive services, childcare, parenting and education. The CPC Central Committee has examined the situation and adjusted its goals and positioning in a timely manner. The report of the 20th Party Congress focuses on "lowering the costs of childbearing, child-rearing and education", and the existing scope of maternity support covers marriage, childbearing, child-rearing, education and other aspects, realising full coverage of the lifecycle, and meeting the diversified and specific needs of people's livelihoods, which embodies China's new direction in the adjustment of childbearing. (c) Direction. To sum up, the contents of the maternity support policy have been broadened to include support for the entire process from birth to childbearing, with attention being paid to the employment situation of the female population group. The content of the maternity support policy has evolved from an embryonic to a formative, unidirectional approach to a broader and more comprehensive one, with the content of the services reflecting diversification, relevance and permanence, and with the content of the policy gradually becoming broader and more refined. The value orientation of fertility support policies has evolved from supportive to active, from valuing birth to valuing childbearing, ensuring that childbearing is protected and safeguarded throughout the entire process. In terms of changes in targeting, there has been a shift from family to socialisation, from adjusting the number of births to reducing the costs of childbearing, parenting and education, in order to promote high-quality development of the population. Discussion Throughout the last decade of fertility policy, there have been profound changes in the fertility system and institutional content. 2013–2016 saw the implementation of the two-child policy and population control through family planning policies. With the aging of the population and the emergence of labour shortages, a gradual relaxation of the fertility policy began. 2016–2021 saw the implementation of the two-child policy and allowed couples to have a second child. 2021–2023 saw the government announce the liberalisation of the three-child policy, encouraging couples to have a third child. This series of changes shows that the fertility policy has been changing in line with the development of society, from suppressing fertility to liberalising fertility and then encouraging fertility, which has become the main trend in the development of China's fertility policy in recent years. At present, the content of China's fertility support policy has been adjusted to address the comprehensive and long-term nature of families' decision-making on childbearing, taking into account the integration of marriage, childbearing, parenting and education, and providing families with diversified measures in the areas of economy, time, services and culture, so as to build the basic framework of fertility support policy in order to alleviate the burden of childbearing on families. With the issuance of government guidance documents and the gradual clarification of the relevant policy paths, as well as the strong investment of social resources, it has played a positive role in boosting society's willingness to have children. Despite the fact that the State has formulated clear policy guidelines and introduced a series of fertility support policies, China still faces a series of difficulties in improving its fertility rate in the future. First, the holistic aspect of fertility support policies. Fertility support policy content is rich and fragmented, including time, economy, services, culture and other aspects, involving the Development and Reform Commission, the Health Commission, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and other departments, the overall coherence of the content of the document and policy needs to be further integrated and coordinated mechanism. How to establish a mechanism that is appropriate to the stage of economic and social development, to coordinate and plan from a holistic perspective, to promote the allocation of resources related to fertility policy, to coordinate the policy settings, to focus the implementation of the policy, and to effectively solve the problem of "not being able to afford to have children" and "not being able to afford to support them" is the key point that the fertility support policy should focus on. is the key point to which the fertility support policy should pay attention. Second, the systemic nature of the fertility support policy. After the adjustment of the fertility policy, the supporting policies have become more and more perfect. China's fertility support policy has unique demographic characteristics, and is different from those of developed countries and East Asian countries in terms of family size and population size; the new situation and changes it faces require forward-looking judgements with Chinese characteristics. How various types of support policies can be combined and articulated, how to reduce the burden of childcare on families, and how to build a fertility-friendly fertility support policy system in line with Chinese characteristics are the directions of breakthroughs in the focus of fertility support policies. Thirdly, the family and gender perspective of fertility support policies. How to effectively address the demands and pressures of couples, especially women, in a way that is compatible with the public's needs for marriage and childbearing and family development is an issue that needs to be urgently resolved in the context of fertility support policies. Generally speaking, a fertility support policy is an inevitable choice in view of the current low fertility rate and low fertility intentions, and it is urgent to build a comprehensive and effective fertility support policy system in order to comprehensively boost society's fertility intentions. Therefore, on the basis of clarifying the principles and key elements of fertility support policies, it is necessary to highlight the gender perspective and form a policy support system that is shared by both men and women, so as to fundamentally boost fertility rates and make the active fertility support measures more effective, in order to optimise the current age structure of the population, and to maintain the sustainable development of the population, the economy and society. Declarations Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. Data availability Data will be made available on request. Funding No funding was received. References Sobotka,T,Lutz W.Misleading policy messages derived from the period TFR:should we stop using it?.Comparative Population Studies,2010,35(3). 637-644. Chen Y.H.,Zhu Y.X.Suggestions for Fertility Policy Reform under Low Fertility. South China Journal,2022(03):37-39. Yang J.H. Fertility support and fertility support policy:Basic connotation and future orientation. Shandong Social Science,2019(10):98-107. Wang E.K. Flexible and Flexible Employment of ‘Mother Post’, Innovative Employment Mode for Female Workers. China Employment,2022(09):57. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. 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Also discoverable on Platform About In Review Editorial Policies Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4670590","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":323289496,"identity":"4ff015c1-1830-4dc1-947f-2674273f2e82","order_by":0,"name":"Liming Chu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA30lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZhBhwMDAD2UzNhCtRbKBaC0wYHCAWC0Gx5kfPrpRcMdu8/Ezho8LGGxkNxxgfvYAnxbJZjZj4xyDZ8nbzuQYG89gSDPecIDN3ACfFn5mBjPpHIPDyWY3eMykeRgOJ244wMMmgU8LGzP7N7AW4xk85r95GP4T1sLPzAO2xc5AgseMmYfhAGEtks08xUC/HE6QOJNWLD3DINl45mE2M7xaDM4f3/g4589he/72wxs/F1TYyfYdb36GVwsMJDZATGCARi4RwJ5IdaNgFIyCUTASAQB+20IhptLtagAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"Tianjin University of Commerce","correspondingAuthor":true,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Liming","middleName":"","lastName":"Chu","suffix":""},{"id":323289497,"identity":"9eed3ea3-6f51-44e1-84dd-adee66e52ad9","order_by":1,"name":"Jiawei Duan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Capital University of Economics and Business","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jiawei","middleName":"","lastName":"Duan","suffix":""},{"id":323289498,"identity":"96914431-6359-42de-a14e-fbabe4b654c0","order_by":2,"name":"Qi Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Capital University of Economics and Business","correspondingAuthor":false,"submittingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Qi","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-07-02 00:56:34","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4670590/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4670590/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":61084035,"identity":"6e6be9bf-fbab-41c0-a957-119c7040fc23","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-07-25 11:25:21","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":864566,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4670590/v1/3f39f463-395d-4690-a2be-ccd1a528ff3f.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Developments and characteristics of fertility support policies in China over the past decade","fulltext":[{"header":"Background","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe Twentieth National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) put forward for the first time the policy objective of \"establishing a system of policies to support childbirth\", with an emphasis on lowering the costs of childbearing, child-rearing and education. As the issue of fertility concerns the development and future of the country, China has always attached great importance to the adjustment of the fertility policy, from the two-child policy to the three-child policy, with different emphasis on the construction of the fertility support system at different stages. 2021, China began to implement the three-child policy, however, China's population fertility level and the situation is not optimistic, and the continuous decline in the level of fertility has attracted the attention of the Chinese government and the society as a whole, which is mainly manifested in the following ways The delay in the age at which women of childbearing age give birth to one child as well as a general decrease in the willingness of ordinary families to have two or more children. Maternity support policies are designed to safeguard women's rights and interests and, through the provision of a series of support measures, to help women balance their careers and families and improve the social status and quality of life of the female population.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAt present, ten years after the adjustment of the fertility policy, the fertility support policy is in the exploratory stage. In the face of the ageing of fewer children under negative population growth, sorting out and summarising the development process of China's fertility support policy in the past ten years not only helps to deepen the understanding of China's balanced development of the population, but also helps us to grasp the characteristics of China's development of and changes in its fertility policy, as well as the key points and difficult issues in the field of fertility policy at the present stage, which is helpful in clarifying the It will also help us to grasp the characteristics of the development of China's fertility policy and the key and difficult issues in the area of fertility policy at the current stage, thus helping to clarify the direction and ideas for further improving the fertility support policy.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Results","content":"\u003cp\u003eIn order to clearly show the development status and trend of China's maternity support policy in the past decade, we try to categorise the policy provisions. In this paper, we use time support, economic subsidies and service provision as the main categorisation basis, which basically covers all the contents of maternity support policies. Since policies and regulations will affect the specific implementation across the country and even around the country, we use policies and regulations as an entry point to summarise the characteristics of the three types of maternity support policies from a statistical point of view.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eGenerous extension of maternity leave, adjustment of paternity leave, additional parental leave, and provision of multiple time support\u003c/b\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTime support is the main element of maternity support policies, which focuses on women's maternity and breastfeeding periods and includes maternity, paternity and parental leave. Theoretically speaking, leave policies mitigate the conflict between workers and their employment, childbearing and parenting behaviours mainly by providing them with guaranteed time for care. In reality, the main body of child-rearing is the family, and women are the main bearers. Maternity leave increases the protection of women's rights and interests and guarantees women more adequate time for post-natal recovery and care of newborns.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom the development trend of time support policies, the maternity leave policy has evolved from a one-way burden to multiple sharing, and is characterised by sharing between husband and wife and sharing between maternity and parenthood. The target beneficiaries of maternity leave have evolved from female-dominated to parent-sharing. First, the mechanism for sharing the cost of leave has been improved, from the main body being the mother to valuing the shared responsibility of childcare among working parents. Second, the content of time support has been diversified, with the generous extension of maternity leave, the adjustment of paternity leave, and the addition of parental leave. Maternity leave is the most basic policy element in maternity policy, and with the development of society, economy and culture, maternity leave has been extended and additional parental leave has been established to protect maternity security and parental rights.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWith the implementation of the comprehensive two-child policy, in accordance with Article 25 of the Population and Family Planning Law (2015 Amendment), couples who give birth to children in accordance with laws and regulations may be granted incentives or other welfare benefits in the form of extended maternity leave in various places[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR1\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e], the specific extended maternity leave and welfare benefits may vary from region to region, and policies will be formulated accordingly in each region based on the local situation. Prior to the introduction of the comprehensive two-child policy, this was usually referred to as \"nursing leave\" or \"care leave\" in local population and family planning regulations, and in 2016, the population and family planning regulations were amended to accommodate the comprehensive two-child policy. \"In 2021, China amended the Population and Family Planning Law: the State supports the introduction of parental leave under certain conditions as a supplement to the maternity leave system.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e, from the time support policies of each province, the maternity leave model of \"basic maternity leave\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;incentive maternity leave\" is fully covered. The national statutory basic maternity leave is 98 days, and there are also 30\u0026ndash;90 days of incentive leave in various places. In conjunction with the adjustment of the maternity policy, after the introduction of the two-child policy, nearly 50 per cent of provinces and cities have extended the maternity leave by 30 days, i.e., 128 days of incentive leave; after the introduction of the three-child policy, the maternity leave has been extended again. So far, nearly 50% of China's provinces and cities have extended to 158 days or more, with the minimum number of maternity leave days being 158, such as in Beijing and Shanxi, and the maximum reaching 188 days, reflecting China's active extension of maternity leave in order to encourage childbearing, and to provide mothers with more adequate time for childcare. Paternity leave has also been adjusted, with nearly half of the provinces and cities with 15 days of leave, and over 50% of the provinces and cities with 15 days of leave. In terms of the length of paternity leave leave, the shortest is 7 days and the longest is 30 days, such as in Henan, but there are also some provinces that do not have paternity leave, such as Beijing and Guangdong, etc. The adjustment of paternity leave shows that China is gradually paying attention to women's rights and interests in childbearing, and the setting of paternity leave places more emphasis on men's role in childbearing, which is conducive to reducing the occupational discrimination against women as a result. The length of parental leave varies and is concentrated on three children. With the exception of the Tibet Autonomous Region, 30 provinces and cities in China have already set up parental leave, and from the point of view of the length of parental leave, there is not much difference between provinces and cities in China, with more than 60 per cent of provinces and cities stipulating that the husband and wife should each take 10 days of leave per year before the child reaches the age of three, and some provinces providing 5, 15 or 20 days of leave, thus better conveying the value of equal parenting between men and women.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDistribution of the main elements of fertility support policies\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"9\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c2\" namest=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePolicy content\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003etwo-child fertility policy\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTypical provinces\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ethe universal two-child policy\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTypical provinces\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ethird-child policy\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTypical provinces\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePolicy features\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTime Support\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ematernity\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e128 days in 16 provinces\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFujian;Shanxi\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e158 days in 16 provinces and 128 days in 7 provinces (minimum)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHainan,henan(3 month)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e158 days in 14 provinces and 188 days in 5 provinces\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eJiangsu(128 days)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFull coverage of the maternity leave model of \"basic maternity leave\u0026thinsp;+\u0026thinsp;incentive maternity leave\".\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003epaternity\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10 days in 8 provinces, 15 days in 7 provinces, 7 days in 6 provinces\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHenan(one month)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15 days in 19 provinces and 25 days in 3 provinces\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHenan(one month)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15 days for 15 provinces, 30 days for 5 provinces, 20 days for 5 provinces, 25 days for 4 provinces\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShanghai (10 days)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNearly half of the provinces and cities with 15 days of holidays\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eparental leave\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colspan=\"4\" nameend=\"c6\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eunder implementation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10 days in 21 provinces, ranging from 5, 15 and 20 days in other provinces\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBeijing and Shanghai: 5 days Chongqing: 5\u0026ndash;10 days Jilin: 20 days\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe length of parental leave varies and is concentrated on three children.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSource of data: collated from the National, Provincial and Municipal Regulations on Population and Family Planning.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eExplore a system of financial assistance, mainly cash payments, to form a stepped financial assistance system.\u003c/b\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEconomic subsidies are an important instrument of maternity support policies, which mainly include policies such as maternity allowances, childcare subsidies, maternity grants, tax breaks and housing concessions. Theoretically, economic subsidy policies are able to smooth out the opportunity cost of raising children and iron out fluctuations in family income. In reality, government-led economic subsidies related to childbearing have helped to shorten the birth interval, and the effects of the \"comprehensive two-child\" policy will be briefly released in 2018\u0026ndash;2020. The effects of the \"comprehensive two-child\" policy will be briefly released in 2018\u0026ndash;2020.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn terms of the development trend of economic subsidy policies, the State, in conjunction with fiscal and tax measures, has stepped up its efforts in terms of the forms and standards of economic subsidies for children and parents, with a view to reducing the burden of child- rearing on the family and providing all-around protection for family child-rearing, thus reflecting support for the economic burden that women face as a result of childbearing. First, the focus has gradually been on the \"child-rearing\" stage, and the forms of economic subsidies have been expanded from the initial maternity allowance and childbirth reimbursement to include child-rearing subsidies and housing concessions, as shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e. Secondly, one-off subsidies are the mainstay, with living allowances, childbirth nutritional supplements and childcare allowances all being one-off subsidies.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis paper focuses on two aspects of the content of economic subsidies: housing incentives and childcare subsidies. On the one hand, high housing prices are an important factor affecting fertility intentions[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e], according to the development trend of the housing system reform, with the increase in the number of children born, the family's demand for housing is also increasing. Based on this, the Guiding Opinions on Further Improving and Implementing Support Measures for Active Childbearing, jointly issued by 17 departments, including the National Health and Health Commission and the National Development and Reform Commission, sets out a series of requirements for housing, including accelerating the improvement of the housing security system and accurately implementing policies favouring the purchase and rental of housing. Raising the standard for government subsidies for infant and toddler childcare will not only effectively reduce the operating costs of childcare institutions for children aged 0 to 3 years, improve and develop a system of inclusive childcare services, but will also guide childcare institutions to lower the price of childcare fees and effectively reduce the burden of childcare on the public, which will be conducive to the creation of a childbearing-friendly society, and will provide strong support for the promotion of the long-term and balanced development of the population.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eOn the other hand, the trend in the development of child-care services is that they are \"family-oriented and supplemented by child care\". The problems of \"difficult\" and \"expensive\" pre-school education have received widespread attention from the government, which has ushered in a new development in childcare. With the implementation of the comprehensive \"two-child\" policy in 2016, the increase in female employment, the normalisation of residential separation, and the nuclearisation of family size, and many other factors, from a practical point of view, China's families have a sharp increase in the rigid demand for infant and toddler childcare services, and there are about 40\u0026nbsp;million infants and toddlers under the age of three, and more than 30% of infant and toddler families have a demand for childcare. There are about 40\u0026nbsp;million infants and toddlers under the age of 3, and more than 30% of the families with infants and toddlers have a demand for childcare, which is manifested in a prominent contradiction between the total amount of insufficient and process adaptation. By the end of 2021, the number of childcare places per 1,000 population will be 2.03, a considerable gap from the target of 4.5 proposed in the Outline of the Fourteenth Five-Year Plan. In some areas, there is a contradiction between supply and demand, with parents' demand exceeding institutions' capacity.2022 As of July 2022, the utilisation rate of childcare places in Beijing was only 35.4 per cent, indicating that the lack of total number of places and an imbalance in the number of places available have resulted in an oversupply of childcare services and a low level of effectiveness of such services. With women's entry into the labour market and the development of smaller family sizes, the problem of unattended infants and toddlers is becoming increasingly prominent. Improving the system of inclusive childcare services and exploring the establishment of a childcare subsidy system is an important policy tool for reducing the burden of childbearing and raising expectations for childbearing; it is a key task in the protection of \"one small\" service, and is a key way to promote people's well-being and early childhood development.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn terms of housing preferential policies in the provinces, housing preferential policies are tilted in favour of multi-child families, with the highest (Shangyu) subsidy amounting to 300,000 yuan. The housing policies cover such areas as increasing the amount of provident fund loans, providing subsidies for home purchases, and offering favourable interest rates on loans. These policies aim to provide subsidies to families that respond positively to the fertility policy, so as to reduce the rise in housing costs caused by having multiple children. In terms of the amount of subsidy, for example, Leshan in Sichuan, Linze in Gansu, and Haian in Jiangsu enjoy subsidies for home purchase, ranging from 5,000 to 30,000 yuan on average. In terms of home purchase policies, Lanzhou in Gansu, Wuxi in Jiangsu and Hangzhou in Zhejiang allow families with multiple children to purchase one additional home; Mianyang in Sichuan, Hengyang in Hunan and Zhoushan in Zhejiang relax provident fund loan amounts for families with multiple children, increasing them to 700,000-800,000 yuan, and Beijing and other places take care of the housing types of families with multiple children. At present, nearly 60% of the provinces and cities have introduced a housing policy for families with multiple children, from the introduction of the policy distribution of cities, mostly concentrated in second-tier and third- and fourth-tier cities, fewer first-tier cities.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs can be seen from Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e, the scope of childcare subsidies focuses on families with two or three children, and the recipients of the subsidies are divided by child, forming a system of economic subsidies in the form of a ladder. Less than 10 per cent of the provinces and cities involved in granting childcare subsidies for one child, such as Shenzhen, Wenzhou and Zhangye, etc.; provinces and cities with subsidies for two or more children account for 50 per cent of the country as a whole, such as Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, which grants a one-time childbirth subsidy of 3,000 and 4,500 yuan in childcare subsidies for giving birth to one child; a one-time childbirth subsidy of 5,000 yuan and 6,000 yuan in childcare subsidies for giving birth to two children; and a one-time childbirth subsidy of 10,000 yuan and 9,000 yuan in childcare subsidies for giving birth to three children. For the birth of a third child, a one-time childbirth subsidy of 10,000 yuan and a childcare subsidy of 9,000 yuan are granted.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSummary details of multiple economic subsidy policies by region\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"9\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c7\" colnum=\"7\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c8\" colnum=\"8\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c9\" colnum=\"9\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eProvince\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eChildcare allowance\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c4\" namest=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePublic housing priority\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"3\" nameend=\"c7\" namest=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHome Purchase (Rental) Benefits\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colspan=\"2\" nameend=\"c9\" namest=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003etax reduction\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePriority for public housing allocation\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccommodation in the choice of public rental housing types\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eIncrease in home purchase targets\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHome purchase subsidy\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEnhancement of Loan Amount\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003especial additional deduction for personal tax\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCorporate tax incentives\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBeijing\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnhui\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGansu\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGuangdong\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGuizhou\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHeilongjiang\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHunan\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNingxia\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eJiangsu\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShaanxi\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eZhejiang\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGuangxi\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eJilin\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSichuan\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHubei\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eXinjiang\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShandong\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShanxi\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLiaoning\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYunnan\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHebei\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHenan\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eJiangxi\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c7\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u0026radic;\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c8\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c9\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eSource of data: collated from provincial and municipal policies.\u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e\u003cp\u003eTable\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e summarises the content of the economic subsidies in each province, and Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab3\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e shows the details of the childcare subsidies in each region.\u003c/p\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab3\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 3\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDetails of childcare subsidies by location\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"5\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eProvince\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCity\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eOne child\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(CNY)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSecond child\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(CNY)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThree children\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(CNY)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"3\" rowspan=\"4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHubei\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWuhan\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eJingmen\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnlu\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7200\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14400\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHuanggang\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3800\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"4\" rowspan=\"5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eZhejiang\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHangzhou\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e20000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShaoxing\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10800\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e56100\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWenzhou\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLonggang\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLishui\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShaanxi\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnkang\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e24600\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e48200\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBaoji\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHanzhong\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"1\" rowspan=\"2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eXinjiang\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShihezi\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eKelamayi\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShandong\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eJinan\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21600\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e21600\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShanxi\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eJincheng\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSichuan\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePanzhihua\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLiaoning\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShenyang\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNingxia\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11200\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHunan\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eChangsha\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e10000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eYunnan\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4400\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7400\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHebei\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHengshui\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e5000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eJiangsu\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNantong\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7200\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e14400\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGuangdong\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShenzhen\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7500\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e11000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e19000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSource of data: collated from provincial and municipal policies.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eImprovement of the universal childcare service system and continuous efforts to enhance the provision of childcare services\u003c/b\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eService provision is an important policy tool for the socialisation of childcare, which mainly includes reproductive medicine, healthcare services and childcare and education services. Theoretically, it can effectively reduce the operating costs of child-care institutions for children aged 0 to 3, improve and develop a system of inclusive child- care services, and also guide child-care institutions to lower the price of admission fees, effectively reducing the burden of child- rearing on the public. From a practical point of view, the rigid demand for childcare services for infants and toddlers has increased dramatically in China, with the number of infants and toddlers under the age of 3 reaching about 40\u0026nbsp;million, and more than 30 per cent of the families of infants and toddlers indicating that there is a demand for childcare, China's kindergarten services for children over the age of 3 have a high degree of popularity, with more than 73 percent in 2019; in 2020, the kindergarten enrolment rate for school-age children will reach 80 percent[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom the perspective of the development trend in service provision, childcare services are characterised by a \"family-oriented approach, supplemented by childcare\". With the implementation of the comprehensive \"two-child\" policy in 2016, childcare services are increasing, and the service system for maternity services and childcare has basically taken shape; recently, the Decision and Opinions clearly set out a number of complementary service provision measures, which are mainly reflected in the socialisation of the main body of the care work and the social sharing of care costs.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis paper focuses mainly on subsidies for childcare, as shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab4\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e, and from the perspective of provincial service provision policies, each province has implemented service provision policies in accordance with local conditions, taking into account a variety of parameters, such as the level of regional development, the age structure of the population, and the level of old-age pensions. For example, Jiangxi Province is the first province in the country to introduce a system of subsidies for infants and toddlers to attend childcare at the provincial level. It is currently divided into two forms: the issuance of childcare subsidy vouchers and the issuance of monthly childcare subsidies. The first, such as Shenzhen in Guangdong Province, Chengdu in Sichuan Province, and Lianyungang in Jiangsu Province, has introduced a policy of subsidising the admission of infants and toddlers to childcare, so that where infants and toddlers are currently under three years of age,each child can apply for a 1,000 yuan subsidy voucher for childcare consumption. The second is a direct cash subsidy for childcare, which varies from 300 RMB/child/month (Liaocheng, Anhui Province) to 1,000 RMB/child/month (Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province). The highest subsidy is for female talents with an annual income of more than 120,000 yuan who work for enterprises in the Jinan Hi-Tech Zone, who are given a financial subsidy of up to 3,000 yuan per month, based on 50 per cent of the amount of the invoice for childcare expenses.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab4\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 4\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eDetails of infant and childcare subsidies\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"3\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eProvince\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCity\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSubsidies for infant and toddler care(CNY)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"4\" rowspan=\"5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAnhui\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWuhu\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTwo children: 1,000 per child per month; three (more) children: 2,000 per child per month\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGuangde\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e500 per child per month\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLiaocheng\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e300 per child per month\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eQingdao\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTwo children: 300 per child per month; three children: 380 per child per month\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eJinan\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eFemale talents with an annual income of more than 120,000 will be given a financial subsidy of up to 3,000 per month at 50 per cent of the invoiced amount of childcare expenses\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eJiangxi\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e---\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e300 per child per month\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\" morerows=\"2\" rowspan=\"3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eZhejiang\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eZhoushan\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTwo children: 500 per child per month; three children: 1,000 per child per month\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShaoxing\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTwo children: 500 per child per month; three children: 800 per child per month\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHuzhou\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e400 per child per month\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eGuangdong\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eShenzhen\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEach childcare subsidy voucher worth 1,000 per child\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSichuan\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eChengdu\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEach childcare subsidy voucher worth 1,000 per child\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eJiangsu\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eLianyungang\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSubsidy of 1,000 for contributions above 3,000\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHubei\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWuhan\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eEach childcare subsidy voucher worth \u003cspan\u003e$\u003c/span\u003e1,000 per child\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003ePiloting and encouraging flexible working patterns to expand the employment space for childcare women\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe establishment of \"mother posts\" is a useful exploration to promote the expansion of employment space for childcare women, and is also a \"win-win-win\" move for the benefit of the people and enterprises in terms of women's employment, employment by enterprises, and family care. Under the three-child policy, how to balance work and family, how to work and bring up children has become a problem for some women. The flexible work system not only helps women's groups to better realise their self-worth, but also fully exploits the employment potential of the female labour force and alleviates the problem of enterprises' difficulties in employing workers[\u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e].\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn terms of trends in the development of work styles, parents are guaranteed a reasonable amount of time to care for and accompany their children in accordance with the care needs of childcare mothers, and flexible working, job-sharing, telecommuting and other programmes are being carried out in a conducive manner. The \"mother's post\" work model is a good attempt under the three-child policy, which relaxes labour control over a portion of the employed through a 'core-supportive' model of labour allocation, and is particularly suited to the special employment needs of childbearing women. employment needs. These flexible work patterns provide women with new career development opportunities and paths, and help them reduce the time squeeze caused by work-life. Without affecting the basic productivity of enterprises, this has helped to create jobs, increase family income and achieve self-development for women.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe Guangdong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Welfare and the Provincial Women's Federation have issued the \"Implementation Opinions on Promoting Women's Employment by Implementing the Employment Mode of \"Mothers' Posts\" (Draft for Opinion Solicitation)\", which proposes the creation of a maternity-friendly working environment, and encourages employers to set up \"mothers' posts\" workshops, It also encourages employers to set up \"mothers' workshops\" and \"mothers' production lines\", and to establish \"women's homes\" to provide welfare infant and child care services for their employees, which sends a clear and positive signal. At present, all regions are still at the exploratory stage, and have not implemented these programmes on the ground as they have in Guangdong, but the ACWF has indicated that it will further promote the experience of flexible employment in the \"mothers' posts\", expand the \"mothers' posts\" in new industries, and promote women's access to fuller, higher-quality, and more secure employment. (d) Promoting women's access to fuller, higher- quality and more secure employment. Towards the direction of family- friendliness and female-friendliness, a greater consensus is being forged and more strength is being gathered.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn summary, the maternity support policy is now based on time support, supplemented by economic subsidies and complemented by service provision. In terms of time support, maternity leave has been generously extended, paternity leave has been adjusted, and parental leave has been added, easing the pressure that infants and young children place on families and women to give birth to and raise children; in terms of economic subsidies, a system of economic subsidies has been explored, with cash payments as the mainstay, to help couples of child-bearing age to resolve their difficulties in giving birth. In terms of service provision, the universal childcare service system has been improved, and childcare services have continued to gain momentum, with the family remaining an important player in the provision of childbirth support services. In terms of employment promotion, flexible working methods are encouraged to expand the employment space for child-rearing women. On the whole, the maternity support policy system is still in the exploratory stage in terms of reducing the costs of childbirth, parenting and education.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003eFindings\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe classification and statistical analysis of \"maternity support policies\" visually reflects the distribution of the relevant contents of \"maternity support policies\" in the past ten years, and further analyses of connotations will help us to find out the focus and direction of the development of maternity support policies, so as to show the thematic changes and development trend of the development of maternity support policies in recent years more clearly. The analysis further helps us to identify the focus and direction of development of the maternity support policy, so as to more clearly show the thematic changes and development trend of the maternity support policy in recent years.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eIn terms of changes in policy content, there has been a development trend from germination to shaping, from one-way to broadening and expanding the scope of policies.\u003c/b\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSince the \"two children alone\" policy was introduced in 2011, China's population and fertility policy has undergone significant adjustments, and related supporting measures have been introduced since then. Maternity leave is the basis of the maternity support policy,and after the implementation of the \"two children alone\" policy in 2013, the supporting measures focused on extending maternity leave as the main time support, which was at the nascent stage of the related economic and social support. After the implementation of the \"comprehensive two-child policy\" in 2016, supporting measures focused on economic subsidies in the form of tax incentives and the provision of public services for children under the age of 3. After the introduction of the \"three-child policy\" in 2021, supporting measures were implemented in the form of parental leave, childcare subsidies and housing concessions, meaning that the maternity support policy has basically taken shape.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe adjustment of the fertility policy has opened a new stage of China's population development, and the continuous revision of the Population and Family Planning Law means that the fertility support policy has gradually expanded from a single type of policy to include finance, taxation, insurance, education, housing, employment, etc., and is distributed in the fields of education, employment and social services, etc., so as to realise multidimensional and multifaceted positive fertility support measures to promote fertility and family development, and to provide a basic guideline for the fertility support This provides a basic guideline for the construction of a maternity support policy system.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eFrom the change of value orientation, there is a development trend from supporting to active, from valuing life to valuing education.\u003c/b\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMaternity support policy originated from the comprehensive two- child maternity policy and supporting policies, and the 19th National Congress Report first proposed \"promoting the matching and convergence of maternity policy and related economic and social policies\", which mainly assisted the landing of the two-child policy at this stage. In the Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on Optimising Fertility Policy and Promoting Long-term Balanced Population Development and the Guiding Opinions on Further Improving and Implementing Active Fertility Support Measures, emphasis has been placed on the construction of an \"active\" system of fertility support policies, which implies that the fertility support policy has evolved from being liberalised to being active.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs China's economy and society develop, people's values towards childbearing and childcare have changed. In the past, society paid more attention to childbearing; now, society is gradually shifting to a focus on childcare, gradually forming a full-cycle fertility support system. The Government has begun to emphasise the importance of childcare, introducing a series of policies to support childcare, and strengthening its investment in and management of childcare services, such as improving childcare services, providing childcare subsidies, etc., and developing children's medical care, education and healthcare, with greater emphasis on \"nurturing\" and \"parenting\" to help parents take better care of their children. More emphasis has been placed on \"nurturing\" and \"parenting\" to help parents take better care of their children.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cb\u003eIn terms of changing targeting, there has been a development from family to socialisation, from adjusting the number of births to reducing the costs of childbearing, parenting and education.\u003c/b\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRaising young children is an unshirkable obligation of every family, and the main body of care labour is mainly borne by families. The introduction of the separate two-child policy has meant an increase in the burden of childcare on families, and the issues of child-rearing and education have become a difficult problem for families of double- income workers. With the publicisation and marketisation of infant and toddler care, the burden of childcare on families has been eased, the dilemma of motherhood for working women has been resolved, and the system of universal childcare services has continued to improve, promoting the socialisation of the costs of childbearing, with the development of the policy of support for childbearing gradually taking on a trend of \"remedial socialisation\".\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe two-child policy has raised the number of births to two, and the accompanying socio-economic support measures, such as maternity protection, reflect the fact that the goal of maternity support is to seek to adjust the number of births. However, having children requires comprehensive consideration of a range of factors such as health status, economic income, reproductive services, childcare, parenting and education. The CPC Central Committee has examined the situation and adjusted its goals and positioning in a timely manner. The report of the 20th Party Congress focuses on \"lowering the costs of childbearing, child-rearing and education\", and the existing scope of maternity support covers marriage, childbearing, child-rearing, education and other aspects, realising full coverage of the lifecycle, and meeting the diversified and specific needs of people's livelihoods, which embodies China's new direction in the adjustment of childbearing. (c) Direction.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eTo sum up, the contents of the maternity support policy have been broadened to include support for the entire process from birth to childbearing, with attention being paid to the employment situation of the female population group. The content of the maternity support policy has evolved from an embryonic to a formative, unidirectional approach to a broader and more comprehensive one, with the content of the services reflecting diversification, relevance and permanence, and with the content of the policy gradually becoming broader and more refined. The value orientation of fertility support policies has evolved from supportive to active, from valuing birth to valuing childbearing, ensuring that childbearing is protected and safeguarded throughout the entire process. In terms of changes in targeting, there has been a shift from family to socialisation, from adjusting the number of births to reducing the costs of childbearing, parenting and education, in order to promote high-quality development of the population.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"Discussion","content":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"BlockQuote\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eThroughout the last decade of fertility policy, there have been profound changes in the fertility system and institutional content. 2013\u0026ndash;2016 saw the implementation of the two-child policy and population control through family planning policies. With the aging of the population and the emergence of labour shortages, a gradual relaxation of the fertility policy began. 2016\u0026ndash;2021 saw the implementation of the two-child policy and allowed couples to have a second child. 2021\u0026ndash;2023 saw the government announce the liberalisation of the three-child policy, encouraging couples to have a third child. This series of changes shows that the fertility policy has been changing in line with the development of society, from suppressing fertility to liberalising fertility and then encouraging fertility, which has become the main trend in the development of China's fertility policy in recent years. At present, the content of China's fertility support policy has been adjusted to address the comprehensive and long-term nature of families' decision-making on childbearing, taking into account the integration of marriage, childbearing, parenting and education, and providing families with diversified measures in the areas of economy, time, services and culture, so as to build the basic framework of fertility support policy in order to alleviate the burden of childbearing on families.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWith the issuance of government guidance documents and the gradual clarification of the relevant policy paths, as well as the strong investment of social resources, it has played a positive role in boosting society's willingness to have children. Despite the fact that the State has formulated clear policy guidelines and introduced a series of fertility support policies, China still faces a series of difficulties in improving its fertility rate in the future. \u003cb\u003eFirst, the holistic aspect of fertility support policies.\u003c/b\u003e Fertility support policy content is rich and fragmented, including time, economy, services, culture and other aspects, involving the Development and Reform Commission, the Health Commission, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and other departments, the overall coherence of the content of the document and policy needs to be further integrated and coordinated mechanism. How to establish a mechanism that is appropriate to the stage of economic and social development, to coordinate and plan from a holistic perspective, to promote the allocation of resources related to fertility policy, to coordinate the policy settings, to focus the implementation of the policy, and to effectively solve the problem of \"not being able to afford to have children\" and \"not being able to afford to support them\" is the key point that the fertility support policy should focus on. is the key point to which the fertility support policy should pay attention. \u003cb\u003eSecond, the systemic nature of the fertility support policy.\u003c/b\u003e After the adjustment of the fertility policy, the supporting policies have become more and more perfect. China's fertility support policy has unique demographic characteristics, and is different from those of developed countries and East Asian countries in terms of family size and population size; the new situation and changes it faces require forward-looking judgements with Chinese characteristics. How various types of support policies can be combined and articulated, how to reduce the burden of childcare on families, and how to build a fertility-friendly fertility support policy system in line with Chinese characteristics are the directions of breakthroughs in the focus of fertility support policies. \u003cb\u003eThirdly, the family and gender perspective of fertility support policies.\u003c/b\u003e How to effectively address the demands and pressures of couples, especially women, in a way that is compatible with the public's needs for marriage and childbearing and family development is an issue that needs to be urgently resolved in the context of fertility support policies.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eGenerally speaking, a fertility support policy is an inevitable choice in view of the current low fertility rate and low fertility intentions, and it is urgent to build a comprehensive and effective fertility support policy system in order to comprehensively boost society's fertility intentions. Therefore, on the basis of clarifying the principles and key elements of fertility support policies, it is necessary to highlight the gender perspective and form a policy support system that is shared by both men and women, so as to fundamentally boost fertility rates and make the active fertility support measures more effective, in order to optimise the current age structure of the population, and to maintain the sustainable development of the population, the economy and society.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDeclaration of competing interest\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData availability\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eData will be made available on request.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo funding was received.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSobotka,T,Lutz W.Misleading policy messages derived from the period TFR:should we stop using it?.Comparative Population Studies,2010,35(3). 637-644.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eChen Y.H.,Zhu Y.X.Suggestions for Fertility Policy Reform under Low Fertility. South China Journal,2022(03):37-39.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYang J.H. Fertility support and fertility support policy:Basic connotation and future orientation. Shandong Social Science,2019(10):98-107.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWang E.K. Flexible and Flexible Employment of \u0026lsquo;Mother Post\u0026rsquo;, Innovative Employment Mode for Female Workers. China Employment,2022(09):57.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-pregnancy-and-childbirth","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"prch","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth](http://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/prch/default.aspx","title":"BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth","twitterHandle":"@BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"fertility support, holistic, gender perspective, family development","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4670590/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4670590/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003ch2\u003eIntroduction\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eEncouraging childbearing is an important measure to optimise the current age structure of the population, and the core fertility support policy is fertility-friendly as well as family-friendly.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eMaterials and methods\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThis paper statistically analyses the fertility support policies of the country and provinces and cities in the past ten years to clarify the developmental changes and improvement trends of fertility support policies.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eResults\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAround the evolution of the policy theme, the fertility support policy shows the development trend of sprouting to shaping, unidirectional to expanding the dimension and increasing the surface, auxiliary to active, valuing birth to valuing parenting, family to socialisation, adjusting the number of births to reducing the cost of childbearing, raising and educating.\u003c/p\u003e\u003ch2\u003eDiscussion and conclusion\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eFurther attention needs to be paid to the holistic, systemic, family and gender perspectives of the policy.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Developments and characteristics of fertility support policies in China over the past decade","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-07-25 11:17:15","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4670590/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2024-07-05T18:15:33+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2024-07-03T12:30:47+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth","date":"2024-07-02T00:55:18+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"bmc-pregnancy-and-childbirth","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"prch","sideBox":"Learn more about [BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth](http://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"https://www.editorialmanager.com/prch/default.aspx","title":"BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth","twitterHandle":"@BMC_series","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC Series","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"f8e9b6ff-3804-4fc1-b433-89c88db824bc","owner":[],"postedDate":"July 25th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-07-25T11:17:15+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2024-07-25 11:17:15","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4670590","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4670590","identity":"rs-4670590","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qQ7_6M8ijIrYJ9CiyUnPg","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}