Beijing — Parents in China are being offered 3,600 yuan (£375; $500) a year for each of their children under the age of three in the government’s first nationwide subsidy aimed at boosting birth rates.The scheme, which was announced on Monday, will offer parents a total of up to 10,800 yuan per child.
The new financial incentive, announced Monday by state broadcaster CCTV, applies retroactively from January 1, 2025, and is expected to assist about 20 million families. Parents will receive 3,600 yuan ($500) per year per child. Families with children born between 2022 and 2024 also qualify for partial benefits under the new rules.
This national initiative follows a series of local pilot programs launched in recent years as authorities attempt to address the country’s deepening demographic crisis.
In 2024, China registered 9.54 million births, a slight increase from the previous year. However, the population continued to shrink for the third year in a row, based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. With 1.4 billion people, the country remains the world’s most populous, but the effects of decades-long family planning policies, including the now-defunct one-child rule, are showing long-term consequences.
Beijing’s plan marks a shift from local to national intervention. The government has acknowledged the growing burden of childrearing costs on families, especially in cities where education, housing, and childcare expenses continue to rise.
A study by the YuWa Population Research Institute found that raising a child to age 17 in China costs approximately $75,700 one of the highest amounts globally when compared to household income. The same study emphasized that high costs are a key factor in the declining fertility rate.
In March, Hohhot, a city in Inner Mongolia, began offering up to 100,000 yuan ($13,800) to couples with three or more children. In Shenyang, northeast of Beijing, local families receive 500 yuan ($70) monthly for a third child under three years old.
Last week, Beijing also advised provincial governments to begin planning for free preschool education to ease cost burdens and encourage early childhood development.
“This policy shows that the government is recognizing the urgency of stabilizing the birthrate,” said an expert. “But the incentive must be paired with broader support in housing, healthcare, and education.”
Despite the new measures, China’s fertility rate remains among the lowest in the world. The declining birthrate, coupled with a rapidly aging population, poses long-term challenges for the labor market, economic growth, and social security systems.
While the cash offer is a start, many families remain hesitant.
“For families in urban centers, the subsidy is helpful but not enough to change decisions about having more children,” said a parent in Shanghai who welcomed her second child last year.
Beijing’s population strategy now faces a critical test: whether financial relief can reverse the long-term trends set in motion by decades of restrictive family planning and economic pressure.
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