Sichuan, a province in southwest China, will remove restrictions on unmarried individuals having children as part of a larger government effort to increase the nation's declining birth rate.

In China, parents generally need to register their child's birth in order to get benefits like maternity insurance. A household registration document, known as a hukou, is also required in order to give children access to social welfare services including healthcare and school.

The change in policy followed China's population decline last year for the first time in more than 60 years, a historic turning point in the country's escalating demographic problem.

The Sichuan government currently only allows married couples to register up to two children's births. Beginning Feb.15, all citizens, including unmarried parents, are eligible to register, with no limit on the number of children.

Other provinces, like Guangdong and Shaanxi, have taken similar efforts to ease birth registration procedures.

Policymakers have been concerned about China's demographic dilemma, which is likely to have an increasing influence on GDP in the coming years.

Beijing abandoned its decades-long and highly contentious "one child" policy in 2015, understanding that the limitation had contributed to a fast aging population and a dwindling workforce, both of which might jeopardize the country's economic and social stability.

The Chinese government announced in 2015 that it will permit married couples to have two children in an effort to reverse the nation's declining birth rate. However, notwithstanding a small increase in 2016, the national birth rate has kept declining.

The new rules, according to a statement from the Sichuan Provincial Health Commission, changed the emphasis of birth registration to "the desire and results of childbearing."

According to a representative of the Sichuan Health Commission, the goal of the policy is to protect the rights of single moms rather than to promote the parenthood of unmarried individuals. The strategy would support "long-term and balanced population development," according to the commission's announcement.

China's policymakers lowered birth limitations in 2021, allowing three children, and increased efforts to encourage larger families, including a multi-agency plan unveiled this year to boost maternity leave and offer tax breaks and other incentives to families. However, despite changing gender norms, high living and schooling costs, and looming economic uncertainties, these efforts have yet to bear fruit.

Many young individuals are delaying marriage or deciding not to have children at all.

According to the new regulations, single parents in Sichuan will now be able to make use of benefits that were previously only available to married couples. These benefits include maternity insurance, which pays for paid maternity leave and prenatal care.

Sichuan is the fifth most populous province in China, with a demographic of more than 83 million.