Burden of raising children can be eased

A working mother in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province, found her 9-month-old baby had a fever, so she applied for a day off to take care of it. The next day, the baby's fever had risen to 42 degrees Celsius, but when she applied for another day off her request was rejected. Beijing Youth Daily comments:

The woman posted snapshots of her WeChat conversations online, which aroused fierce discussion. Some blamed her company for being too rigid with the schedule, while others said the company might suffer losses if it allowed Wang to have an additional day off. Some commiserated with her, saying married women, especially with children, face the double pressure of family and job.

Actually, neither the woman who needs the day off, nor the company that insists on its office discipline is at fault. The problem stems from the fact that society lacks a system to ease the burden of raising children. A couple has to pay for a wet nurse, or let their parents help to take care of the baby. Both involve cost even though in the latter case they do not have to pay. During the whole process, they can expect little help from the government.

Under such circumstances, it is natural for people to be unwilling to give birth, because that means additional financial and other burdens. That trend will in turn cast negative effects upon society in the long run, because the aging process of society might come earlier, and the ratio of laborers in the whole population might be lower.

In order to curb this, it is necessary for the government to reimburse couples that have children. For example, it can set aside a proportion of taxes for funds that reimburse couples who need to take care of children. Or it can at least make the current birth leave longer so that couples have more time to take care of their newborns.

Let the couples who have children feel the benefits, not the burden.