Baby Bonus: China provides 10,800 yuan per child to promote birth rate; Why ‘late flat’ generation is not convinced

The Chinese population contacted 1 billion in the late 1970s, the then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping introduced a child’s policy in 1979, and China fined parents to have more children. Four decades later, the government has reversed the policy and has decided to pay the parents to have more children.In the last week of July, the government announced a new plan to increase the birth rate. Parents will receive an annual subsidy of 3,600 yuan (about $ 500) for every child by the age of three. The scheme applies to children born from January 1, 2025. In three years, a family can get up to 10,800 yuan for each child.The state broadcaster CCTV of Beijing as quoted by news agency AFP called it “a major nationwide policy aimed at improving public welfare”. “It provides direct cash subsidy to families across the country, which helps reduce children’s burden,” CCTV said.China’s birth rate has continued to decline, even though a child’s policy ended about ten years ago. Last year, the country recorded only 9.54 million births, which is half the number in 2016, the year of one child ended. China’s shrinking population also increases rapidly. About 310 million people were over 60 years and in 2024.The population shrunk to 1.39 million last year, and India overtook China in 2023 to become the world’s most populous country.The wedding rate in China is also very low. Many young couples are not producing children due to high cost of raising them and concerns about their career.

Is the subsidy amount enough?

Asked whether the subsidy would help, a citizen, Lee told the US news outlet CNN: “The cost of raising a child is very high, and there is a only decline in 3,600 yuan buckets in a year.”A recent study by the Youth Population Research Institute states that China costs about 538,000 yuan ($ 75,000) to lift a child at the age of 18 in China. This is more than six times the GDP of China. In cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, the cost overtakes 1 million yuan and 936,000 yuan respectively.“(Having children) will only bring more difficulty. I am a capitalist or nothing, and my child probably will not have a great life,” Lee said, as is quoted by CNN.China’s economy is slowing down, and young unemployment is increasing. These trends are making it difficult for the government to encourage people to marry and have children.In 2016, the government allowed couples to have two children, and in 2021, the border was reduced to three. But the birth rate kept falling. The population has declined by three consecutive years, although there was a slight increase in births last year. Experts say the decline may deteriorate.The new subsidy will also partially cover children under three who were born before 2025. Some parents have welcomed the policy, but according to CNN, it is unlikely to increase the fertility rate in a meaningful way.Other countries in East Asia like Japan and South Korea have tried similar steps without much success.Many youth in China are dealing with high housing costs, long working hours and uncertainty of jobs. These problems are seen as a major reasons why people are not children.A CNN report states that China’s millennium and General ZS have been irony of the irony of shift to pay penalty to parents for births without births to give subsidy to more children, especially those who have seen the harsh punishment of the policy of one-child, said in a CNN report.Some Chinese social media users have pointed to change the government’s policy. They shared the old receipts, showing the fine that his parents had to pay for him or his siblings during a single policy.

Foggy outlook for future

For many years, such as China’s economy increased and the living situation improved, young people believed that they would have a better life than their parents. However, this belief is now weakening.Today, many youths who were taught that hard work and education will get success, are being discouraged. Housing prices have increased greatly, and a university degree no longer guarantees a good job. The CNN report states that good job opportunities are often given to people with family connections.Many people feel that no matter how hard they work, they are not moving forward in a society which is becoming more competitive. This feeling is often described by the word “Involution”, which comes from sociology and means a self-sufficient cycle of too much competition.In response to this, some are selecting “late flats”, a word that means to withdraw from trying to meet the expectations of society, including marriage and having children.