China seeks to stimulate births and help families fighting population decline

The State Council called for efforts to build “a new culture of marriage and motherhood” by spreading respect for motherhood, marriages at the right age and parents’ shared responsibility for caring for their children.

The measures on offer are better maternity insurance, maternity leave, subsidies and medical resources for children, with the cabinet asking local governments to budget for childcare and charge preferential taxes and fees for these services.

“Supporting childbirth at this stage is of great importance,” said Yang Chang, chief policy analyst at Zhongtai Securities Research Institute, adding that Monday’s announcement will serve as a model for future measures.

As the number of women of childbearing age between 15 and 49 is likely to decline and the willingness to have children is not expected to increase soon, state support is critical to help reverse the downward trend in births, he added.

China abandoned its 35-year-old one-child policy in 2015, but has struggled to increase its birth rate, mainly because during this period the rural population has moved to cities in search of jobs.

Education is another area targeted, with local authorities being asked to increase financial aid for students from disadvantaged families, with a mention of “gradually expanding the scope of free education”.