China announced on Tuesday 16 a number of benefits for families to have more children, due to the drop in the birth rate (a historic low) and the possibility of depopulation in 2025, according to officials.
Policy guidelines released Tuesday by the National Health Commission (CNS) urge central and state governments to increase spending on reproductive health and improve childcare services.
The CNS urges local governments to “develop active fertility support measures,” including subsidies, tax breaks, better health plans, and support for young families with education, housing, and work.
The nation’s wealthiest cities provide tax and housing loans, educational benefits, and even cash incentives to encourage women to have more children. Along the same path, the latest guidelines aim to pressure the rest of the country to take similar measures.
All provinces will have to ensure that there are enough daycare centers for children aged two to three by the end of the year, in order to reduce the severe shortage of childcare services.
The world’s most populous country, with a population of more than 1.41 billion in 2021 (according to World Bank data), is facing an imminent demographic crisis that threatens its economic growth as its working-age population is rapidly aging.
Despite Beijing ending its brutal one-child policy in 2016 and allowing couples to have three children since last year, birth rates have been falling for five years and the country is expected to experience a population decline from 2025.
According to the CNS, the total birth rate has dropped below 1.3 children per family in recent years, and the country is expected to enter a phase of rapid aging around 2035, with more than 30% of the population over 60 years old, according to the CNS.
Cost of living and cultural changes explain this decline as people become accustomed to families with fewer members.
According to UN projections, which point out that India is about to surpass China as the world’s most populous country by 2023, the world’s population is expected to reach 8 billion people by November 2022.
source: Noticias
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