China demographics thread.
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To support births, Chinese capital Beijing adds fertility services to insurance coverage
BEIJING, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Beijing will include more than a dozen fertility services in a government-backed medical insurance scheme for the Chinese capital, state media reported on Monday, supporting those seeking to have babies with China's birth rate at a record low.A total of 16 medical services using assisted reproductive technologies (ART) will be covered by the city's state insurance effective from March 26, in a move to "take proactive fertility support measures", according to the Beijing Daily.
The new reproductive coverage could help lower out-of-pocket costs and benefit couples in lower income brackets seeking to have babies and those with little or no access to private medical insurance.
Official data showed China's birth rate dropped to a record low in 2021, extending a downward trend that led the national government last year to begin allowing couples to have up to three children.
China will work towards achieving an "appropriate" birth rate, Premier Li Keqiang said at the start of the annual parliamentary meeting in March last year.
China faces what experts call a "demographic time-bomb" as its elderly population increases while its workforce gets smaller due to decreasing births, partly due to a one-child policy in place for about four decades before being scrapped in 2016.
China will raise the statutory retirement age "in a phased manner", Li said last year.
The eastern province of Jiangsu said last month that starting from March, employees eligible for state pensions will be able to apply for delayed retirement for no less than one year from the statutory retirement age.
Cost of raising a child until age 18 in China 6.9 times China's GDP per capita, higher than US, France and Germany: report
In 2019, the average cost of raising a child from birth to the age of 18 was 485,000 yuan in China. With a GDP per capita in 2019 of 70,300 yuan, the cost of raising a child was rounded up to 6.9 times China's 2019 GDP per capita, according to a report published on Tuesday by the YuWa Population Research think tank. The think tank was established by a group of demographers and economists, including economics professor at Peking University Liang Jianzhang.
The report compared the figures with 13 other countries in Europe, Asia and America, showing China ranked the second among all these countries in expenditure of raising a child to the age of 18. South Korea ranked first with 7.79 times of its GDP per capita being spent on raising a child until age 18. South Korea's fertility rate is now the lowest in the world, which was 0.84 in 2020.
The cost of raising a child from birth to age 18 in the US was 4.11 times its GDP per capita in 2015, and in the UK it was 5.25 times its GDP per capita in 2021 and 3.64 times of Germany's GDP per capita in 2018.
In 2019, the average cost of raising a child from birth to the age of 18 was 485,000 yuan in China. With a GDP per capita in 2019 of 70,300 yuan, the cost of raising a child was rounded up to 6.9 times China's 2019 GDP per capita, according to a report published on Tuesday by the YuWa Population Research think tank. The think tank was established by a group of demographers and economists, including economics professor at Peking University Liang Jianzhang.
The report compared the figures with 13 other countries in Europe, Asia and America, showing China ranked the second among all these countries in expenditure of raising a child to the age of 18. South Korea ranked first with 7.79 times of its GDP per capita being spent on raising a child until age 18. South Korea's fertility rate is now the lowest in the world, which was 0.84 in 2020.
The cost of raising a child from birth to age 18 in the US was 4.11 times its GDP per capita in 2015, and in the UK it was 5.25 times its GDP per capita in 2021 and 3.64 times of Germany's GDP per capita in 2018.
This is why last year the private tutoring industry was demolished. It would be interesting to see a survey for this year. I bet that it would look drastically different
Dam almost 7 times no wonder people don't want children. Even 3.64~4.11 times i feel is shockingly high, that is just raising to 18.
Most children aren't financially capable at 18 years most haven't even started their higher education here in the west.
Bollocks
Sounds like it was written by a lazy corporate career woman.
"In 2021, the country saw its population fall for a second consecutive year, losing by 0.79 percent to 23,375,314, with an all-time low 153,820 births and 183,732 deaths, according to the data.
Taiwan's population shrank for the first time on record in 2020, with 165,249 births and 173,156 deaths, according to the previous MOI data. By the end of 2020, Taiwan's population had dropped by 0.18 percent from 2019, at 23,561,236,"
Does anyone know if Taiwan is also moving towards encouraging family raising?