May 26, 2008
Today’s Beijing News front page reported a modification in the country’s birth control policy in Sichuan and related the tragic story of a Sichuan villager who lost his two daughters in the earthquake. The story was originally printed in Chengdu Evening News.
Wang Xuegui is a 34-year-old villager who lived in the quake-stricken Yingxiu Town. Both of his two daughters were killed in the earthquake; their bodies were found under the rubble of their collapsed school building. Wang said he was still young and hoped to have children again. He hasn’t talked about this with his wife, who is recovering from a mental breakdown after the loss of their children.
Schools suffered disporportionally large damage in the earthquake, and because of China’s tough birth control policies, many of the students who died in the quake were only children. For many parents who lost a child, they lost all.
According to a new regulation issued by the Chengdu Population and Family Planning Commission, families like Wang Xuegui’s that lost their children or had children disabled in the earthquake are permitted to give birth again. Moreover, families of children who were killed or disabled in the quake and have at least one parent older than 50 will now receive an annual government subsidy of 600 yuan for each parent. Earthquake-impacted families (families that sustained injuries, deaths, or whose property was damaged) that have “illegal” children are no longer required to pay their “social rearing fee”, a fine imposed on families that have unauthorized children. Families that had illegal children of whom only one survived the earthquake can now qualify for the “Single Child Parents Privilege Certificate” and enjoy government subsidies reserved originally only for single-child-families.