Family planning reform shifts the focus to healthy population growth

The Central Government published an institutional reform plan for the National Health Commission on Monday, which requires the commission to restructure its internal departments and personnel. ThePaper.cn comments:

According to the reform plan, the NHC's three departments in charge of family planning will be scrapped. The departments of family planning grassroots guidance, family planning and development, and mobile population family planning service will give way to a new department responsible for collecting population data and monitoring families' well-being.

The move shows China's focus has shifted from preventing fast population growth to promoting healthy population growth.

In 2013, the central government merged the State Family Planning Commission with the Ministry of Health to form the now defunct National Health and Family Planning Commission, reflecting China's resolve to reform the family planning policy and institutions.

In late 2015, the government allowed all couples to have two children. In March this year, China's top legislature approved the shortening of the NHFPC's name to the National Health Commission, which suggested the scrapping of the three family planning departments was just a matter of time. They were finally scrapped on Monday.

Last month, the family planning office of Zhecheng county, Central China's Henan province, imposed heavy fines, or social subsistence fees, on local families with three or more children. The way people across the country responded to the incident suggested the Zhecheng officials' action was against the aim of the family planning reform, which encourages couples to have more children in order to boost China's low fertility rate.

Many local family planning departments have collected social subsistence fees. And thanks to a lack of transparency, people don't know how and where the money is used. No wonder the NHC's restructuring plan has drawn more attention than similar reform plans for other ministries. Perhaps it's time the government provided subsidies for couples with two children to encourage other couples to follow their example.