The Politburo requests a policy to support women to have 2 children before the age of 35.

It is necessary to study and promulgate mechanisms and policies to encourage couples and individuals to have two children (illustrative photo)

The Politburo has just issued a Conclusion on continuing to promote the implementation of Resolution No. 21 of the Central Executive Committee on population work in the new situation.

In addition to financial support, relevant agencies need to develop appropriate subsidy policies and create favorable employment conditions for workers raising young children, especially women of childbearing age.

"Research and issue mechanisms and policies to encourage couples and individuals to have two children, with special priority given to areas with low birth rates and ethnic minorities," the conclusion stated.

The Politburo also requested to continue perfecting the population policy system, ensuring it is consistent with major changes in population size, structure, quality and distribution; at the same time, speed up the progress of building and promulgating the Population Law.

Current regulations on the number of children born and the handling of violations of population policies within the Party and State will also be reviewed and amended to be more consistent with the new orientation on population and development.

In addition, a series of other population policies also need to be considered, including: maintaining the replacement fertility rate; narrowing the gender imbalance at birth; increasing life expectancy and extending the number of healthy years of the elderly; improving the quality of reproductive health care, the health of the elderly and children.

Party committees, authorities and organizations from the central to local levels are required to step up propaganda to raise awareness and change behaviors related to population. The network of population and health care services, especially in geriatrics, will be consolidated, formed and developed synchronously.

These guidelines were issued in the context of Vietnam's fertility rate being among the lowest in Southeast Asia, averaging only 1.91 children per woman. Without effective and timely solutions, Vietnam's population is at risk of negative growth in the period 2054 - 2059. Low fertility rates lead to a rapid decline in the working-age population, population aging and negative impacts on sustainable development.

According to the Ministry of Health and experts, the desire to have two children is still the common norm for the majority of Vietnamese families today. This is an important opportunity to issue policies to support having two children to protect the current replacement fertility rate.

Recently, many policies to encourage birth have been and are being studied, such as not disciplining Party members who have a third child, or proposing to extend maternity leave from 6 months to 7 months in the draft Population Law submitted by the Ministry of Health to the Government.

In Ho Chi Minh City, since the beginning of May, the city government has reviewed the list of women who have given birth to two children before the age of 35 (with the second child's birth date between December 21, 2024 - April 15, 2025) to implement support policies.

Specifically, women who give birth to two children before the age of 35 will receive a one-time support of VND3 million. In addition, pregnant women and newborns from poor or near-poor households, social security beneficiaries or living in island communes will receive VND2 million in support when performing prenatal and newborn screening. The support level includes VND600,000 for prenatal screening, VND400,000 for newborn screening, and VND1 million in cash.

TB (summary)

Source: https://baohaiduong.vn/bo-chinh-tri-yeu-cau-co-chinh-sach-ho-tro-phu-nu-sinh-du-2-con-truoc-35-tuoi-411657.html