NewsWire: 9/1/21
- China is rolling out a wide variety of new “baby boost” policies, including child tax credits. Officials will also end the fines and penalties that have long been leveled against families who have too many children. (The Wall Street Journal)
- NH: In the last few months, the CCP has been looking for ways to reverse the country’s falling fertility rate. In June, the government announced that families will be allowed to have three children. And there were talks of scrapping birth restrictions altogether. (See “China Pins Its Future on a Three-Child Policy” and “Will China Drop All Birth Restrictions?”)
- We have often argued that China would continue to move away from family limitations and toward pronatalism. And now, according to a document released by the CCP, the country is indeed planning a plethora of new “baby boost” policies.
- These new initiatives mainly target the financial burdens of parenthood. The costs of raising a child under the age of three will be exempt from income tax. The government will increase the supply of affordable daycare providers. Families will no longer be fined for past family-planning violations. And local governments will be strongly encouraged to give housing priority to couples with children and reward companies that initiate shared family leave policies.
- No, China isn’t yet like Hungary handing out direct cash benefits. But it’s moving in that direction. And while we knew this would happen, China may be moving faster than we originally predicted.
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