China offers parents £375 per child to tackle birth rate

China will offer parents an annual childcare subsidy of 3,600 yuan (£375) in an effort to arrest the country's declining birth rate.

- SHAHANA YASMIN

The scheme, announced on Monday, will cover all children under three. It will apply retroactively from 1 January 2025, but families with children born between 2022 and 2024 can also apply for partial subsidies, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the National Health Commission, the nationwide subsidy is expected to benefit nearly 20 million families. The subsidies will not be treated as taxable income or counted when determining eligibility for poverty assistance.

The National Bureau of Statistics reported earlier this year that China's population had fallen for the third consecutive year in 2024. It had declined by 1.39 million to 1.408 billion as deaths continued to surpass births.

In 2023, the population had fallen by 2.08 million. The fall was double that of the previous year, which marked the first population drop in 60 years.