China announced on Tuesday a series of incentives for families to have more children, given the fall in the birth rate (to a historic low) and the likelihood that the population will decrease in 2025, according to authorities.
Policy guidelines released on Tuesday by the National Health Commission (NHC) call on central and provincial governments to increase reproductive health spending and improve childcare services.
They call on local governments to “develop active measures to support the birth rate”, including subsidies, tax cuts, improved health insurance, and support for education, housing and work for young families.
richest cities in China they provide tax and housing credits, educational benefits and even cash incentives to encourage women to have more children.
Thus, the latest guidelines aim to force the rest of the country to take similar action.
All provinces will be required to provide enough nurseries for children aged two to three by the end of the year to alleviate a serious shortage of childcare services.
demographic crisis
ChinaThe world’s most populous country, with over 1,410 million inhabitants in 2021 (according to the World Bank), is facing an imminent demographic crisis that threatens its economic growth due to a rapidly aging working-age population.
In spite of China lifted the draconian “one child” rule in 2016 and allowed couples to have three children last year, the birth rate has been declining for five years and the country is expected to lose population from 2025.
The total fertility rate has fallen below 1.3 children per family in recent years, and the country is expected to enter a phase of rapid aging by around 2035, with more than 30% of the population over 60, according to the CNS.
The cost of living and cultural change, where people are accustomed to having families with fewer members, explains this decline.
The world population is expected to reach 8 billion by November 2022, according to UN projections that indicate India is on track to overtake India. China as the most populous country in the world in 2023.
(According to AFP)
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Source: RPP
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