China rolls out childcare subsidy to boost birth rate

CHINA ANNOUNCED THAT it will start handing out childcare subsidies across the nation, in its latest push to boost birthrates after a worrying drop in recent years.

- KAROLINE KAN

The government will spend 3,600 yuan ($502) a year per child under age three, according to the official Xinhua News Agency. The assistance, effective retrospectively from January 1 this year and available regardless of the first-, second- or third-child, is meant as an incentive for young couples wary of rising costs of child-rearing.

The policy is expected to benefit more than 20 million families each year, Xinhua reported. China has previously offered tax breaks and has been working to offer more affordable daycare services, it said.

The latest measure follows China's population shrinking for a third straight year in 2024. New births at 9.54 million last year was only half of the 18.8 million registered in 2016 when China lifted its one-child policy.