Abstract
Data from interviews with staff of government offices, relevant literature and national statistics are used to analyze laws, regulations, rules, policies and operational procedures concerning birth registration in China. The current status of and existing problems with birth registration, as well as the influences of delayed birth registration on children’s rights and welfare are examined. Finally, barriers to birth registration in China are explored and strategies to improve the process of birth registration and to protect children’s rights are proposed. The main findings are as follows: First, the rate of birth registration in China is low and in rural areas and for marginalized children, it is even lower. Second, the dual birth registration system and interference from the Population and Family Planning department cause serious administrative difficulties. Third, the serious problems surrounding birth registration in China are a result of interactions among the interests of different stakeholders, while most stakeholders are unaware of the dimensions of the problems. Strategies and policies to promote birth registration are discussed.
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Notes
In China, a law is established by the National People’s Congress or the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. A regulation could be national and/or local; a national regulation is established by the State Council, while a local regulation is established by the People’s Congress or the Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of a province or of an autonomous region; rules also could be national or local; a national rule is set up by a sub-department of the State Council, while a local government rule is set up by the Municipal People’s Government of a province.
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Acknowledgements
This work is jointly supported by the Plan International (China), the second period of the National 985 Project of the Ministry of Education and Treasury Department of China (07200701) and the Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team (IRT0855) in Universities of the Ministry of Education of China.
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Li, S., Zhang, Y. & Feldman, M.W. Birth Registration in China: Practices, Problems and Policies. Popul Res Policy Rev 29, 297–317 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-009-9141-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11113-009-9141-x