China Will Benefit From Finally ‘Finding’ Its Lost Children
Millions of Chinese are ostracized because they were born out of wedlock. Giving them official recognition will help solve the nation’s birthrate crisis.
Widening the definition of traditional families.
Photographer: STR/AFP/GettyImages
China’s Sichuan Province has an edgy idea for boosting the country's falling birth rate. Starting Feb. 15 it will allow unmarried parents to legally register the births of their children, with no limit on how many. That’s a bold move for a country that has long stigmatized out-of-wedlock births and cohabitation. But it’s also a pragmatic one. Over the last 50 years, the social mores of China’s young people, especially its young women, have changed radically.
By signaling a more accepting official attitude toward non-traditional relationships, China can encourage previously excluded groups — including single women and co-habitating couples — to have children. The success of the policy change will be measured over decades. But there's no choice but for China to embrace it. Long-term, if the nation’s authorities want to engineer a baby boom out of a new China, they must adapt.