The rural population and family planning network faces many challenges, which can be summed up as follows:

1. Need for a long-term family planning mechanism

1.1 There is some concern about whether all the family planning-related awards can be honored. Although lump-sum subsidies have, by and large, been honored, there is doubt as to whether subsidies will actually be paid when they are over sixties.

1.2 Some families with multiple children have prospered in spite of the "fewer children more wealth" program. Traditional attitudes of having children as a means to prepare for one's old age remain strong in rural areas. These traditions are bolstered by the inadequacies of the current social security system. This issue needs further study.

1.3 As China moves rapidly ahead with its urbanization plans, rural migrants moving into the cities could contribute to increased birth rates in the cities. Local population and family planning network mechanisms are unable to manage these migrant workers effectively.

2. Staff quality needs to be strengthened

It is evident that staff need more training to improve their quality of service. At the same time, local governments should review their staff assessment criteria, which currently focus on how successful a family planning officer is at controlling population rather than on the quality of service he provides.

3. Nurturing the relationship between the population and family planning network and public sanitation network

The investigation found that there are areas of overlap in work undertaken by the rural populaton and family planning network and the public sanitation network. We recommend that these overlaps be looked into more closely in order to ensure overall effectiveness and optimized use of resources.

(China (Hainan) Institute for Reform and Development and translated by China Development Gateway December 20, 2007)