2015年CRI ＂Two-child Policy＂ Prompts Calls for Family-friendly Workplace Regulations

 

The so-called "one-child policy" was brought into law in the late 1970's as a way to limit population growth, given that the economy at the time was just starting to open up to the outside world, and the domestic resources, particularly in urban areas, were being stretched to the limit.

As the policy was focused on the country's urban population, minority groups and most rural areas were exempted¹ from the changes.

But now that more than half of China's 1.34-billion people are living in urban areas, and China's economy has become the 2nd largest in the world, authorities have decided² policy changes are needed.

National Health and Family Planning Commission Minister Li Bin³.

"The implementation⁴ of the policy will optimize⁵ the demographic structure, increase the labor⁶ supply, ease pressure from an aging population, promote a balanced development of the population and help improve the health of the overall economy."

However, HOW the changes to the "one-child policy" will affect INDIVIDUAL families is something a lot of people are starting to wonder about.

Rising prices brought on by the market economy, particularly in large cities in China, has increased the cost-of-living.

This is another factor young couples are also considering when even considering having ONE child, let alone a second.

30-year old Fan Juan married 5-years ago, and is employed at a research center which is staffed predominantly by women.

She says at this point, she has no plans to have a child, in part, because employers are also taking family dynamics⁷ into consideration when they hire people.

"My job isn't overly stressful. Still, employers are taking childbirth into consideration. My current boss told me during the recruitment interview that I have a promising⁸ future in my field, but said it would be best for me not to have baby for at least 3-years."

How to tackle gender⁹ discrimination is something being actively¹⁰ debated in China.

Yang Juhua is a professor of Socio-demographics at Renmin University.

She says employers in China need to be proactive in advance of the "two-child policy."

"Large and medium sized companies should coordinate¹¹ with their local communities to find child-care services for their employees. If that's not an option, companies should then consider setting up a nursery at their firm."

But moves like this, while convenient for employees, can be cost-prohibitive for employers.

Because of this, Yang Juhua says the government can make it easier for companies by offering family-friendly policies.

"A tax cut could be feasible. All companies have to pay taxes. But if the authorities can provide tax cuts to companies based on the proportion of female employees they have and how many are going to have a second child, it could be an incentive¹² for employers to make family-friendly changes."

Once the "2-child policy" takes effect, China's population is expected to grow by an additional 20-million per year.

This could mean around 30-million people will be joining the work force every year by 2050.

China's overall population, at 1.34-billion, is expected to hit 1.45-billion in the next 15-years.

For CRI, I'm Li Jianhua.

1 exempted   

使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His bad eyesight exempted him from military service. 他因视力不好而免服兵役。
• Her illness exempted her from the examination. 她因病而免试。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

4 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

5 optimize   

v.使优化 [=optimise]

参考例句：

• We should optimize the composition of the Standing Committees.优化人大常委会组成人员的结构。
• We should optimize our import mix and focus on bringing in advanced technology and key equipment.优化进口结构，着重引进先进技术和关键设备。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

8 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

9 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

10 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

11 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

12 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。