Chinese professor urges the government to offer parents 1 million yuan ($156,000) for each newborn child in a bid to shore up the country's birthrate

[beijingwalker]

China professor calls for million-yuan reward to boost birth rates
Reuters
May 12, 2021

A Chinese professor has urged the government to offer parents 1 million yuan ($156,000) for each newborn child in a bid to shore up the country's declining birth rate, sparking a debate on social media about the soaring costs of raising children.

China's population rose by its slowest rate in decades from 2010-2020, the country's latest census showed, raising fears that the country's dwindling workforce will be unable to support an increasingly elderly population. read more

Liang Jianzhang, professor at Peking University's School of Economics and also founder of travel service provider Ctrip, said in a video posted on his Weibo social media channel that it would cost 10% of China's GDP to raise birth rates from the current 1.3 to the replacement level of 2.1.

That amounts to 1 million yuan per child, and could be allocated in the form of cash, tax relief or housing subsidies, he said.


"I've spoken to a lot of young people ... if it's just a few tens of thousands of yuan it basically wouldn't encourage people to have another child," he said.

The costs would be offset by future contributions made to the economy, said Liang.

"If a family gives birth to another child, that child's future contributions to social security, to tax revenues, will exceed 1 million yuan," he said.

The comments were trending on Weibo on Tuesday night, with users debating whether it was a reasonable use of China's tax revenues, and whether 1 million yuan was even enough to cover educational costs.


"Having a child and not making the most of their talents is considered a crime in today's society," said a user posting under the name Not Old and Confused.

"It should be done as early as possible - if you wait a couple of years no one will want to give birth even for 2 million yuan," said another user named Rainy Wind.

($1 = 6.4285 yuan)

China professor calls for million-yuan reward to boost birth rates

A Chinese professor has urged the government to offer parents 1 million yuan ($156,000) for each newborn child in a bid to shore up the country's declining birth rate, sparking a debate on social media about the soaring costs of raising children.

www.reuters.com

 

[Beidou2020]

Absolute nonsense.

 

[fallstuff]

China professor calls for million-yuan reward to boost birth rates
Reuters
May 12, 2021

A Chinese professor has urged the government to offer parents 1 million yuan ($156,000) for each newborn child in a bid to shore up the country's declining birth rate, sparking a debate on social media about the soaring costs of raising children.

China's population rose by its slowest rate in decades from 2010-2020, the country's latest census showed, raising fears that the country's dwindling workforce will be unable to support an increasingly elderly population. read more

Liang Jianzhang, professor at Peking University's School of Economics and also founder of travel service provider Ctrip, said in a video posted on his Weibo social media channel that it would cost 10% of China's GDP to raise birth rates from the current 1.3 to the replacement level of 2.1.

That amounts to 1 million yuan per child, and could be allocated in the form of cash, tax relief or housing subsidies, he said.


"I've spoken to a lot of young people ... if it's just a few tens of thousands of yuan it basically wouldn't encourage people to have another child," he said.

The costs would be offset by future contributions made to the economy, said Liang.

"If a family gives birth to another child, that child's future contributions to social security, to tax revenues, will exceed 1 million yuan," he said.

The comments were trending on Weibo on Tuesday night, with users debating whether it was a reasonable use of China's tax revenues, and whether 1 million yuan was even enough to cover educational costs.


"Having a child and not making the most of their talents is considered a crime in today's society," said a user posting under the name Not Old and Confused.

"It should be done as early as possible - if you wait a couple of years no one will want to give birth even for 2 million yuan," said another user named Rainy Wind.

($1 = 6.4285 yuan)

China professor calls for million-yuan reward to boost birth rates

A Chinese professor has urged the government to offer parents 1 million yuan ($156,000) for each newborn child in a bid to shore up the country's declining birth rate, sparking a debate on social media about the soaring costs of raising children.

www.reuters.com

Normally, once the total fertility rate slips below 1.5, a country falls into the low fertility trap and is unlikely to recover, which means that the total population will soon start to decline, according to demographers.

The number of newborns in China in 2020 was down from 14.65 million in 2019, and China’s total fertility rate of women of childbearing age was 1.3, a relatively low level, according to the results of the seventh national population census released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.
1.5 is the point of no return.

China’s fertility rate may become ‘world’s lowest’ without strong intervention policy, India may overtake China by 2023: demographers - Global Times

www.globaltimes.cn

.

 

[beijingwalker]

1.5 is the point of no return.

Not with one million Yuan bonus.

 

[fallstuff]

Not with one million Yuan bonus.

1.5 is the event horizon. No one ever came back from that !
I do wish China good luck.

BTW million Yuan is just a suggestion from a college professor.

 

[beijingwalker]

1.5 is the event horizon. No one ever came back from that !
I do wish China good luck.

BTW million Yuan is just a suggestion from a college professor.

I don't think China is coming to this point yet, with the right policy, the population can easily rise again with this huge base. The Chinese government can always make the impossible possible, the way of goverance here is very different from other countries.

 

[casual]

Free daycare is more feasible

 

[8888888888888]

The 1 child policy was always going to be ignored from the more rural areas until Xi Jinping got into power and they tighten it down.

 

[redtom]

1.5 is the event horizon. No one ever came back from that !
I do wish China good luck.

BTW million Yuan is just a suggestion from a college professor.

History does not determine the future, just like most countries in Asia were colonies in the past and most of them are not now.

 

[Mista]

Lol Singapore floated a similar idea before.

If former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew were in charge of Singapore today, he would introduce a baby bonus equal to two years of the average Singaporean's salary.

This is not to boost the country's abysmal total fertility rate of 1.2. Rather, Mr Lee would do it to "prove that super-sized monetary incentives would only have a marginal effect on fertility rates".

Writing in his new book, One Man's View Of The World, Mr Lee makes clear he would offer this huge baby bonus for at least a year.

The experiment will "prove beyond any doubt that our low birth rates have nothing to do with economic or financial factors, such as high cost of living or lack of government help for parents", he says.

Instead, it is due to transformed lifestyles and mindsets which the Government is relatively powerless against, he argues in the 400-page book that is due to be launched today.

Declining fertility is the biggest threat to Singapore's survival, he says.

But, Mr Lee adds: "I cannot solve the problem, and I have given up. I have given the job to another generation of leaders. Hopefully, they or their successors will eventually find a way out."

Money won't solve low birth rate problem: Mr Lee

If former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew were in charge of Singapore today, he would introduce a baby bonus equal to two years of the average Singaporean's salary. Read more at straitstimes.com.

www.straitstimes.com

 

[Mista]

Anyway it's just talk. Where do you find the money?

A Chinese professor has urged the government to offer parents 1 million yuan ($156,000) for each newborn child

The number of newborns in China in 2020 was down from 14.65 million in 2019, and China’s total fertility rate of women of childbearing age was 1.3

14.65mil * 1mil yuan = 14.65 trillion yuan

BEIJING, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- China's fiscal revenue decreased 3.9 percent year on year to around 18.29 trillion yuan (about 2.8 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2020, official data showed Thursday.

The central government collected about 8.28 trillion yuan in revenue, down 7.3 percent year on year, while local governments saw revenue down 0.9 percent to about 10 trillion yuan, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.

Tax revenue totaled 15.43 trillion yuan, down 2.3 percent year on year.

China's fiscal revenue down 3.9 pct in 2020 - Xinhua | English.news.cn

You gonna double all tax rates and land premiums?

 

[beijingwalker]

Anyway it's just talk. Where do you find the money?

14.65mil * 1mil yuan = 14.65 trillion yuan

China's fiscal revenue down 3.9 pct in 2020 - Xinhua | English.news.cn

You gonna double all tax rates and land premiums?

“That amounts to 1 million yuan per child, and could be allocated in the form of cash, tax relief or housing subsidies, he said.”

 

[Mista]

“That amounts to 1 million yuan per child, and could be allocated in the form of cash, tax relief or housing subsidies, he said.”

Either way, it comes from tax revenue, no?

 

[beijingwalker]

Either way, it comes from tax revenue, no?

Don't know, I m not a professor. I just know a house in Beijing can easily cost over 10 million Yuan. Maybe a free apartment? China builds so many free houses for the poor anyway.

 

[-blitzkrieg-]

The only thing that can solve this problem in near long term is easing the immigration policies and bringing in thousands of new families /individuals every year.