One-child families in Beijing will get more support and subsidies from the municipal government, according to a revised local population and family planning regulation which comes into effect on September 1.

Like the previous regulation, which was issued in 1991, the new one maintains the country's one-child-per-family policy.

The new regulation gives great emphasis to a variety of care and support measures for one-child families, said Deng Xingzhou, director of the Beijing Municipal Family Planning Committee, in a press release yesterday.

All one-child families in Beijing will be given at least 1,000 yuan (US$120) when the mother reaches 55 years of age or the father reaches 60.

This grant alone will cost municipal finances more than 100 million yuan (US$120,000), said Deng.

Parents at the above-mentioned ages will also be eligible for a grant of at least 5,000 yuan (US$600) if their only child loses the ability to work or dies due to unexpected causes and they do not adopt another child.

The current award standard for one-child families will also be adjusted. The old incentive for one-child families is a monthly grant of from 5 to 10 yuan (60 US cents to US$1.20) every month. The new rate will be fixed at US$1.20.

There are still nine classifications of couples, such as those families in which both spouses are only children, and can have a second child, according to the former policy.

The limit on when these couples can have a second child has been relaxed under the new regulation, which says that such couples can have a second child if they can satisfy just one of the following criteria: the age gap between the two children should be at least four years, and the mother must be at least 28 years old.

(China Daily August 8, 2003)