CHINA - Subsidies to Increase Fertility

Ten years ago, China eased its strict family planning policy by allowing all couples to have two children. Many expected the decision would lead to a baby boom. However, that was not to be.

Then, in 2021, the government announced that all couples could have three children. The next year, in 2022, China recorded its first negative population growth. What further complicates the matter on the demographic front is the fast-rising aging population of China. This fact has prompted not only the central government but also provincial governments to take a series of measures to encourage childbirth.

Compared with many other countries where childcare subsidies can be as high as 2,000 yuan a month, the subsidy offered by the central government may appear small. Yet it’s a good start. And hopefully, it will be eventually raised to a level that would encourage childbearing-age couples to have two or three children.

The experience of other countries and regions shows that favorable government policies alone can’t help much when it comes to increasing the total fertility rate of a country. At most, the policy can help slow down the pace of decline in the birth rate.

Other policies for increasing childbirth include providing longer parental leave, improving childcare services and offering favorable housing policies for families with two-to-three children.

-global.chinadaily.com.cn, 16 September 2025

Commentary: Communist China, with a little over 1.4 billion population, is divided religiously between folk religions 21.9%, Buddhists 18.2%, Christians 5.1%, and Muslims 1.8%, according to the CIA Factbook.

According to the UN Library, in April of 2023, India surpassed China as the country with the largest population, at more than 1.425 billion inhabitants.

China’s predicament is particularly highlighted because of significant government control; specifically, its strict one-child policy from 1979 to 2015. That is one side of the coin. The other is prosperity. GDP per capita in 2024 stood at $23,800, which is much improved. With other prosperous, industrialized nations, we find the tendency of lower birth rates as well. Simply stated, population declines when death rates supersede birth rates.

Not only are super-rich countries like Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Switzerland plagued by a low birth rate, but also other nations such as Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Estonia, and Ukraine are experiencing a decline.

The other problem is quite obvious: life expectancy. A Google search reveals that life expectancy between 1950 and 1955 for China was 43.4 years (ADB Data Library). Today’s life expectancy stands at 78.7 years (2024). Question: Who is going to pay for those who retire? That, of course, is in the camp of political experts.

We read: “China has a rapidly expanding Christian population projected to reach around 100 million by 2050.” In summary, the Church is growing. The process continues: “That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27).