A comprehensive study of family planning rules of several provinces
Yu, Y.
Ren Kou Xue Kan 2: 51-56
1991
PMID: 12285487 Document Number: 327269
Since 1982, 26 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions have promulgated regulations on family planning (FP). These regulations were passed by the provincial people's congress and were equivalent to local legislation. This paper analyzed and compared the regulations of 16 provinces. The regulations basically included general principals, regulations on births, incentives and disincentives, birth control methods, prevention of genetic diseases, and program management. The regulations for the urban populations of 16 provinces were similar. Each couple was to have one child. A second child could be permitted in special circumstances. Incentives given to one-child families included their health care allowance, priority in housing allocation, in education, and in employment. For rural couples, most provinces allow families with one daughter to have another children after a few years of spacing, while 3 provinces allow 2 children for every family. Stipulations on incentives to one-child couples in rural areas were vague for most of the provinces, while 6 provinces had specific terms for incentives. Temporary migrants in China currently exceed 30 million people. It was difficult to implement the FP program among them. 7 of the provincial regulations included articles on the FP practice of migrants, mostly requiring migrants to observe the regulations of the areas migrated to before residence and work permits were issued. The other 9 provinces formulated temporary regulations for temporary migrants. Deficiencies have been found in some of the provincial regulations. Some of the terms and language used were ambiguous. An in some cases, the quality of the population and prevention of congenital diseases were neglected. It was suggested that a national FP law should be promulgated. Implementation of the law and regulations is an important as their promulgation. Such a law should be closely monitored and evaluated for subsequent improvement.