China Lifts Marriage Regulations
China's Ministry of Civil Affairs has announced beginning
October 1, couples which want to wed will no longer need
to get permission from their employers.
Most Chinese have welcomed the announcement, as it recognizes
the couple's right to privacy. The original requirement
that employees get permission from their employers was
a left-over from the early period of Communist rule, and
was designed to discourage polygamy.
A Ministry of Civil Affairs official admitted that the
old rule did, to some extent, violate the policy of freedom
of marriage.
The government is also abolishing the requirement that
couples undergo a medical examination before they decide
to wed.
In Jiangsu province, north of Shanghai, the government
has lifted a ban on unmarried couples living together.
Previously, the Chinese government also required that
women get permission to have children from their employer,
or work unit. This regulation is still enforced, to varying
degrees, in the countryside by local officials.
However, in the cities, the government is allowing couples
to have more than one child if they are willing to pay
a "fine". The amount of the fine varies, but
is usually well within the means of many city couples.
Many better off families are opting to have larger families,
and even send their children to bilingual (Mandarin Chinese
and English) schools, in the hope that they will be able
to have more opportunities when they grow up.
Tuition in the bilingual schools ranges from US$3,000
to $20,000 a year.
As China reforms to a market economy, unemployment and
the gap between rich and poor have widened. The unemployed
are usually those who are older, and have worked in state-owned
enteprises (SOEs), and don't have skills which can be
used in the new economy.
While many westerners look at the lifting of these government
regulations as a granting of more personal freedoms, Chinese
tend to look at these new freedoms as a simple recognition
by the government of social trends which are already occuring
in Chinese society.
An important part of China's current round of reforms
is the downsizing of government, which for many Chinese,
means less government interference in their lives. The
flip side is that they cannot look to the government for
cradle-to-grave care.
So far, the Chinese seem to like the new way better.
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