Child benefit
Fight against the decline in the birth rate: Province in China pays around 28,000 euros for a baby
From the population explosion to the lack of children – now the party is trying to counteract this.
© Huang Xiaobang // Picture Alliance
The Chinese are having fewer and fewer children. The province with the lowest birth rate is now steering against it: 180 days of baby vacation, tax breaks and cheap loans are supposed to convince couples to have children.
In the 1960s, the era of the populous years ended abruptly in the West, and the so-called pill break began. China is currently experiencing a drastic decline in prosperity in the population curve. Not long ago the party allowed couples to only have one child, but the leadership is now happy to have any additional child.
There are many reasons for this: Among other things, schools and childcare facilities can sometimes not keep up with the growing demands. But ultimately all countries around the world experience this effect: more prosperity, more education and the emancipation of women put an end to global population growth. The global population is now expected to decline.
Drastic countermeasures
The Chinese province with one of the fastest shrinking populations is now trying to counteract this development with family loans. Such a baby bonus is already available in other countries, but the Jilin Province in northeast China is starting with a different dimension. Married couples are to receive “marriage and birth loans” of up to 200,000 yuan, equivalent to around 28,000 euros, according to an official draft for measures to promote population growth. You have to take into account that the actual purchasing power in Jilin is much higher than in Western Europe. No details were given of the nature of the government support, but the proposal provides for reduced interest rates on the loans based on the number of children a couple has.
Details unclear
It is also not known whether these loans can be waived. It would be a typical tool to reduce or remit debt when couples have more children or stay permanently. At the same time, the province should invite people from other regions to move. Couples from other provinces can get residency permits and use public help in Jilin. But only if they have children and bring them with them.
Money for start-ups
The money is not intended to be used to buy furniture, it should enable people to start their own business. Couples who even have two or three children therefore benefit from tax breaks. As in many other provinces, paid maternity and paternity leave is being extended in Jilin. In future, women will have a total of 180 days of vacation, previously it was 158 days, and men are entitled to 25 days, previously it was 15 days. In the first three years of a child’s life, couples also receive 20 days of parental leave every year.
In addition to the money, the system is to be expanded to include kindergartens and day care facilities. Jilin is one of the economic problem areas in China, it is suffering from structural change in heavy industry and agriculture, economic growth in the first three quarters of 2021 was 7.8 percent, the national average is 9.8 percent. For comparison: the growth in Germany is less than two percent.