By Liz Lee
BEIJING (Reuters) - China outlined steps on Monday to improve family planning and parenting measures in an effort to boost the number of births, a statement from the state council, or cabinet, showed, after two consecutive years of a shrinking population.
The birth rate hit a record low last year in China, which has a population of 1.4 billion, as fellow Asian giant India outpaced it to become the world's most populous nation.
The state council called for efforts to build "a new marriage and childbearing culture" by spreading respect for childbearing, marriages at the right age, and parents' shared responsibility for childcare.
Measures on offer are better maternity insurance, maternity leave, subsidies and medical resources for children, with the cabinet urging local governments to budget for childcare centres and levy preferential taxes and fees for such services.
"Supporting childbirth at this stage is of great significance," said Yang Chang, chief policy analyst at Zhongtai Securities Research Institute, adding that Monday's announcement would serve as a template for future measures.
With the number of women of childbearing age between 15 and 49 likely to decline, and willingness to bear children not expected to rise soon, policy support was key to help reverse the downward trend in births, he added.
Although China abandoned its 35-year-old one-child policy in 2015, it has struggled to get the birth rate up, particularly as the period saw rural people stream into the cities for jobs.
Education is another area targeted, with local authorities asked to step up financial aid for students from disadvantaged families, with a mention of the "gradual expansion of the scope of free education".
Local authorities were also told to assist with the burden of housing and employment, by providing more support for families with multiple children to buy homes, and beef up protection for pregnant women and new mothers among workers.
Setting up non-commercial platforms for young people to make friends, date and get married was another way to encourage births, the cabinet said.
Monday's measures follow a survey this month by health officials seeking to understand the factors governing attitudes towards childbearing and the fear around having offspring.