Legal Safeguards for Building a Childbirth-Friendly Society in China
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/cgzdv835Keywords:
Childbirth-friendly society; legal safeguards; allocation of powers and responsibilities.Abstract
Building a childbirth-friendly society is a systemic undertaking designed to address low fertility and promote high-quality population development. Its effectiveness depends on legal safeguards that are stable, coordinated, and enforceable. China has established the initial architecture of a fertility-support system, but significant weaknesses remain: interdepartmental coordination is underdeveloped; legal rules are fragmented and insufficiently aligned; responsibilities among public and private actors, including fiscal responsibilities, are unclear; and implementation oversight and rights-based remedies remain weak. Reform should be grounded in reproductive autonomy, human dignity, and gender equality. It should strengthen coordination mechanisms under law; improve the rules governing maternity insurance, childbirth-related leave, childcare services, and assisted reproduction; clarify the allocation of responsibilities between the central and local governments and between the state and society; and create an integrated framework for monitoring, evaluation, accountability, and remedies. These reforms would convert time-limited policy support into stable and predictable institutional guarantees.
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