China's Answer to Declining Birth Rates: 3,600 Yuan per Child
Beijing is paying billions to young families, but economists and families themselves see the real obstacles elsewhere.
China's central government has allocated 99.9 billion yuan this year, equivalent to around 14.8 billion US dollars, for a national childcare subsidy program. Families receive 3,600 yuan annually per child under three years of age, which corresponds to approximately 460 euros. According to state media, as of last month, families of more than 25 million babies have received the payment.
A response to demographic change
The subsidy is part of a broader Beijing strategy to address the declining birth rate. China's population has been shrinking since 2022, while simultaneously the proportion of elderly people is growing. The program is aimed at young families and is intended to cover concrete costs for diapers, infant formula, clothing, and medical care—expenses that significantly impact many households' budgets.
Gender equality as a central factor
Economists and sociologists point out that financial subsidies alone can hardly sustainably influence birth rates. More decisive are questions of gender equality: How much childcare do fathers take on, how flexible are workplaces for mothers, and how well-developed is institutional childcare? European countries with high birth rates, such as France or the Nordic states, typically combine financial support with well-developed infrastructure and a more equitable distribution of care work between genders.
Costs and parental expectations
In Chinese major cities like Shanghai or Beijing, childcare costs and property prices are considered central hurdles for young couples. Surveys among young Chinese repeatedly show that career prospects, housing costs, and the distribution of household duties factor more heavily into family planning decisions than one-time or ongoing cash payments. The 3,600 yuan per year often represents only a fraction of actual childcare expenses given the cost of living in metropolitan areas.
For Austria and Europe, the Chinese debate serves as a point of comparison for their own family policy. Here too, family ministries regularly discuss the effectiveness of direct payments versus expanding childcare facilities.
According to Statistics Austria, Austria invested approximately 10.7 billion euros in family benefits in 2023, while the expansion of full-day childcare services, particularly in rural regions, remains a central challenge.
China's experience with 25 million supported babies thus also provides usable data points for European social policy on which measures actually influence birth rates and which primarily have symbolic value.
Source: China – South China Morning Post | Original Article