| As a national basic long-term policy ratified in 1982, Family Planning has been a obligation for every couple stipulated by Article No.49 of the Constitution of the PRC.Over the past 30 years, under the guideline of national policy, millions of couples bore them only one child, which has brought a huge number of one-child families to China’s society. This then becomes a problem when those family lost their only child.The growth of a family’s only child is not at all without risks. Great grief and damage will be given to the family once their only child die accidentally. For infertile family,this means their home would become a empty nestle. Parents who lost their only-child,this is what they are called. Petitioning of one couple on June 5th in 2012, for the first time, draw them wide attention.One fact is these families are broken and greatly burdened in life. For parents who lost their only child, on the one hand, they are experiencing great trauma; on the other hand, they are faced in their life with such difficulties as economic hardship,insufficient pension, expensive medical care. If their legitimate rights cannot be secured, there will be no support in their old age. Statistics show that there are more than one million families which lost their only child and the number is growing rapidly. Family Planning policy has a lot to do with the emergence of this special group of people. As it is stipulated by the law that rights should be consistent with duties, the government should assume responsibility and provide them with legal protection. On April, 2014, the petition on June 5 was responded by the National Health and Family Planning Commission that no legal basis was found for their case,which shows the absence of relevant legislation in terms of rights protection for families which have lost their only child. Apart from the Law on Population and Family Planning which stipulates that necessary aid should be given to those families,currently there is no other care and legal protection given by relevant laws.At present, although the Family Planning policy has comparatively loosened, therestrictions on Two-child policy can hardly be completely lifted in a short period of time. Therefore, there is still potential risk brought by policy to add more such kind of families and worsen the situation. What’s worth mentioning is, this problem of a family, if not properly handled, may further undermine the stability of our society. A subsidy mechanism was established in 2007 for families who have one disabled child or lost their only child to help these families with their difficulties. In recent years,many local authorities have published relevant policies one after another to offer financial aid to these families. It shows that our country and government are increasingly concerned with this problem. However, only subsidy can hardly root out the problem. The government must spare no efforts to protect the legitimate rights of those families. From the aspects of mental support and financial needs, a assist mechanism led by the government and sponsored by diversified social parties should be formulated based on current national situation so as to better protect the rights of those who have lost their only child. |
