while china has an over population problem, is this a decent solution?
BEIJING (AP) -- A Chinese city's plan to fine mothers who have achild out of wedlock has sparked criticism that the policy isdiscriminatory and could lead to an increase in abandoned babies.
One expert said Monday that it was the first time thatout-of-wedlock children had been expressly singled out for penalty byone of China's municipalities, which have flexibility in how theyenforce China's population-control policies. It also came just daysafter the rescue of a young unmarried mother's newborn from a sewerpipe in eastern China prompted discussion over the stigma that singlemothers face.
"If the policy is approved, there could be more 'sewer babies,'because when mothers can't afford the cost, they might think aboutthrowing their babies away," said Chen Yaya, a gender equalityresearcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
On Friday, the government of Wuhan city in central Hubei publishedonline a draft updated family planning policy which it says is aimed atkeeping the city's birth rate at a low level.
The policy says that "the parties" should pay the fee in cases ofbirths that are out of wedlock or when one side knowingly has a childwith someone who has a spouse. It has been interpreted in state mediaas mainly targeting unmarried mothers and women who have affairs withmarried men. The public has a week to comment on it.
"It looks like the policy is targeted just at women from my understanding," Chen said.
She said unmarried mothers already faced discrimination, includingbeing barred from receiving maternity benefits from the government.
Unmarried mothers also face stigma becausepremarital sex traditionally has been frowned upon. In the case of thebaby found in the sewer in Zhejiang province on May 25, his mother toldpolice she got pregnant after a brief affair, couldn't afford anabortion, hid her pregnancy from family and neighbors and had concernsabout whether she would be able to raise the child. Police also saidshe told them the baby slipped into the sewer accidentally shortlyafter its birth — an account they later said they accepted.
Wuhan'sproposed rule would be the first time that bearing a child whenunmarried has been spelled out as a separate offense, said Yuan Xin, aprofessor of population studies at Renmin University.
"In fact, a lot of family planning regulations have includedunmarried childbearing under illegal childbearing. They were just notspecified as a separate term as is the case this time with Wuhan," hesaid.
"We need to distinguish between the legal and moral aspects" anddefine what a family is nowadays, said Yuan. "Let's say I am single,and I want to have a child. Is that wrong? No, it's not, so is itconsidered a family? Having a baby with a married man, is thatconsidered a family? All these details need to be specified."
Babies resulting from an unmarried relationship or an affair withsomeone who is already married will provoke a "social compensationfee," an official at the family planning committee of Wuhan city incentral Hubei province said Monday. He refused to give his name, as iscommon with Chinese officials.
Social compensation fees are levied on people who break China'sstrict family planning policy, which restricts many urban couples toone child. The fee depends on the province and the whim of the localfamily planning bureau, and the children are denied education andhealth benefits.
Hubei province, in which Wuhan is located, sets its socialcompensation fee as three times the average annual disposable income.
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AP researchers Flora Ji in Beijing and Fu Ting in Shanghai contributed to this report.
http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-city-plans-fine-unmarried-133939519.html
BEIJING (AP) -- A Chinese city's plan to fine mothers who have achild out of wedlock has sparked criticism that the policy isdiscriminatory and could lead to an increase in abandoned babies.
One expert said Monday that it was the first time thatout-of-wedlock children had been expressly singled out for penalty byone of China's municipalities, which have flexibility in how theyenforce China's population-control policies. It also came just daysafter the rescue of a young unmarried mother's newborn from a sewerpipe in eastern China prompted discussion over the stigma that singlemothers face.
"If the policy is approved, there could be more 'sewer babies,'because when mothers can't afford the cost, they might think aboutthrowing their babies away," said Chen Yaya, a gender equalityresearcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.
On Friday, the government of Wuhan city in central Hubei publishedonline a draft updated family planning policy which it says is aimed atkeeping the city's birth rate at a low level.
The policy says that "the parties" should pay the fee in cases ofbirths that are out of wedlock or when one side knowingly has a childwith someone who has a spouse. It has been interpreted in state mediaas mainly targeting unmarried mothers and women who have affairs withmarried men. The public has a week to comment on it.
"It looks like the policy is targeted just at women from my understanding," Chen said.
She said unmarried mothers already faced discrimination, includingbeing barred from receiving maternity benefits from the government.
Unmarried mothers also face stigma becausepremarital sex traditionally has been frowned upon. In the case of thebaby found in the sewer in Zhejiang province on May 25, his mother toldpolice she got pregnant after a brief affair, couldn't afford anabortion, hid her pregnancy from family and neighbors and had concernsabout whether she would be able to raise the child. Police also saidshe told them the baby slipped into the sewer accidentally shortlyafter its birth — an account they later said they accepted.
Wuhan'sproposed rule would be the first time that bearing a child whenunmarried has been spelled out as a separate offense, said Yuan Xin, aprofessor of population studies at Renmin University.
"In fact, a lot of family planning regulations have includedunmarried childbearing under illegal childbearing. They were just notspecified as a separate term as is the case this time with Wuhan," hesaid.
"We need to distinguish between the legal and moral aspects" anddefine what a family is nowadays, said Yuan. "Let's say I am single,and I want to have a child. Is that wrong? No, it's not, so is itconsidered a family? Having a baby with a married man, is thatconsidered a family? All these details need to be specified."
Babies resulting from an unmarried relationship or an affair withsomeone who is already married will provoke a "social compensationfee," an official at the family planning committee of Wuhan city incentral Hubei province said Monday. He refused to give his name, as iscommon with Chinese officials.
Social compensation fees are levied on people who break China'sstrict family planning policy, which restricts many urban couples toone child. The fee depends on the province and the whim of the localfamily planning bureau, and the children are denied education andhealth benefits.
Hubei province, in which Wuhan is located, sets its socialcompensation fee as three times the average annual disposable income.
__
AP researchers Flora Ji in Beijing and Fu Ting in Shanghai contributed to this report.
http://news.yahoo.com/chinese-city-plans-fine-unmarried-133939519.html