China's previous policy of penalizing couples for having excess births has been replaced with one that cannot provide sufficient financial compensation.
In China, the cost of raising a child to the age of 18 ranges between approximately 282,000 yuan for lower-middle-income families and up to over 1 million yuan for affluent urban families like those in Shanghai. This makes China one of the most expensive countries globally to raise children when comparing childrearing costs relative to GDP per capita.
According to a recent study by the YuWa Population Research Institute, the average cost to raise a child in China is around 538,000 yuan ($75,000), which equates to about six times the country’s GDP per capita. This substantial financial burden is contributing to demographic challenges such as low birth rates among young adults.
Many young adults, including Gao and Zhao, are skeptical about starting a family due to deep-seated anxieties about unattainable housing prices, long workdays, a precarious job market, job security, aging parents, and social pressure. Zhao, a 29-year-old woman from Beijing's Haidian district, works in investor relations and has a demanding commute, making it difficult for her to imagine finding the time to raise a child.
Gao, a 27-year-old woman from the remote mountains of Guizhou, was sent to live with her grandmother as a baby to hide from family planning officials due to China's one-child policy. She currently resides in the eastern province of Jiangsu and has no interest in marriage or raising children.
China's government is trying to avert a population crisis by encouraging young people to have more children. Last week, China announced it would offer parents an annual subsidy of 3,600 yuan ($500) for every child until age three, effective retroactively from January 1. The new childcare subsidy marks a significant step in China's pro-birth campaign, with the central government allocating 90 billion yuan ($12.54 billion) in subsidies expected to benefit 20 million families this year.
However, subsidies alone will not be enough to address the barriers women face in having children, according to demographer Zang. Unless policies support career-oriented, highly educated women with things like paternity leave, workplace protection, and flexible jobs, fertility rates won't rebound. The ruling Communist Party in China has emphasized women's domestic role as a "virtuous wife and good mother" and exhorted women to establish a "correct outlook on marriage, childbirth, and family."
In the past, officials pressured couples to have fewer children through hefty fines, forced abortions, and sterilizations. Stories like Zane Li's, who was nine years old when his family in a small city in eastern China was fined 100,000 yuan (about $13,900) for having a second child, are a stark reminder of the past.
In summary, while GDP per capita is a useful benchmark, the high multiple in China reflects both the rising cost of child-rearing and the economic pressures on families, especially in urban environments, contributing to demographic challenges such as low birth rates. The new childcare subsidy is a step in the right direction, but more comprehensive policies are needed to support families and encourage childbirth.
- The cost of raising a child in China, averaging around 538,000 yuan, is significantly higher than the country's GDP per capita, contributes to low birth rates among young adults, and is a reflection of both the rising cost of child-rearing and the economic pressures on families, especially in urban environments.
- Policies that support career-oriented, highly educated women with things like paternity leave, workplace protection, and flexible jobs are crucial to rebounding fertility rates in China, according to demographer Zang.
- China's government is trying to avert a population crisis by offering parents an annual subsidy of 3,600 yuan for every child until age three, but more comprehensive policies are needed to support families and encourage childbirth.
- In the past, China's one-child policy led to hefty fines, forced abortions, and sterilizations, stories like Zane Li's being a stark reminder of the past.
