From 1-Child Policy To Rs 44,000 Per Child: China's Big Shift On Population

China has announced a nationwide childcare subsidy in a renewed attempt to address declining birth rates, offering families 3,600 yuan (Rs 44,000) per child annually until the age of three. The policy, effective retroactively from January 1, is expected to benefit 20 million families in 2025, with a total allocation of 90 billion yuan (Rs 1.035 lakh crore).

This is a sharp reversal of its decades-long one-child policy, which penalised families for having more than one child. Now, the government is attempting to this by offering financial support.

Zane Li, 25, said he does not plan to have children. "The cost of raising a child is enormous, and 3,600 yuan a year is a mere drop in the bucket," Mr Li, who is pursuing a master's degree in health services in Beijing, told CNN. Mr Li recalled that his family was fined 100,000 yuan (Rs 12.2 lakh), nearly three times their annual income, for having a second child under the one-child policy, forcing him to take on household responsibilities as a child.

Raising a child to age 18 in China costs an average of 538,000 yuan (Rs 65.7 lakh), according to the Beijing-based YuWa Population Research Institute. In cities like Shanghai and Beijing, the figure can exceed 1 million yuan.

"(Having kids) would only bring more hardship. I'm not a capitalist or anything, and my kid probably wouldn't have much of a good life either," Mr Li said.

Experts remain unconvinced that China's new childcare subsidy will boost birth rates.

Emma Zang, demographer at Yale University, said the policy signals urgency but may not be enough. "We're not just telling you to have babies, we are finally putting some money on the table," she said, adding that similar efforts in other East Asian countries have seen limited success.

Ms Zang said, "Job security, aging parents, social pressure... a cash handout doesn't address the emotional fatigue people are facing these days."

Some young adults are opting out of marriage and parenthood entirely.

China ended its one-child policy in 2016, later allowing up to three children per family in 2021. Despite this, the country has recorded three consecutive years of population decline, with experts warning of a deeper demographic crisis ahead.