{"id":61346,"date":"2025-08-11T11:53:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T11:53:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/61346\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T11:53:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T11:53:11","slug":"why-chinas-childcare-subsidies-may-benefit-poorer-regions-and-how-they-stack-up-in-asia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/61346\/","title":{"rendered":"Why China\u2019s childcare subsidies may benefit poorer regions \u2013 and how they stack up in Asia"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a major effort to tackle its deepening <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/knowledge\/topics\/china-population\/news?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">demographic crisis<\/a>, China has launched a nationwide childcare subsidy scheme \u2013 the first of its kind by the central government.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The much-anticipated programme offers families 3,600 yuan (US$501) annually for each child under the age of three, building on similar initiatives already piloted in more than 20 provinces.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">In this explainer, the Post looks into the potential impact of the new scheme \u2013 and how it compares internationally.<\/p>\n<p>How will the scheme impact different regions?The subsidy \u2013 a <a target=\"_self\" class=\"e1yy41x40 ef9u0v01 css-1ankfgb ecgc78b0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/economy\/china-economy\/article\/3319872\/china-launches-first-national-childcare-subsidies-bid-tackle-demographic-crisis?module=inline&amp;pgtype=article\" title=\"\" data-qa=\"BaseLink-renderAnchor-StyledAnchor\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">universal benefit<\/a> without additional qualification requirements \u2013 is expected to have a more significant impact in lower-income regions, said Ding Shuang, chief Greater China economist at Standard Chartered Bank.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">The difference will be more pronounced in households where the 3,600 yuan handout represents a larger proportion of income, he said.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">For instance, in Gansu, one of China\u2019s poorest provinces, the subsidy will represent over 13.5 per cent of an average resident\u2019s annual income. In contrast, it will make up just 4.1 per cent in Shanghai, which has one of the country\u2019s lowest birth rates, according to government data from 2024.<\/p>\n<p datatype=\"p\" data-qa=\"Component-Component\" class=\"e8zc9q40 css-1c6uqr6 ec74h0k1\">This means less affluent regions, including smaller cities and rural areas, could expect to see a boost in consumption and, to a lesser extent, birth rates.<\/p>\n<p>How much will the subsidies cost the government?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a major effort to tackle its deepening demographic crisis, China has launched a nationwide childcare subsidy scheme&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[5806,8580,45,49,48,95,27958,25800,39979,46,39978,39977,39976,2454,15802,12816,6549,3849,18262],"class_list":["post-61346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-asia","tag-beijing","tag-business","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-china","tag-chinese","tag-covid-19-pandemic","tag-ding-shuang","tag-economy","tag-ernan-cui","tag-gansu","tag-gavekal-dragonomics","tag-japan","tag-ministry-of-finance","tag-morgan-stanley","tag-shanghai","tag-singapore","tag-south-korea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61346"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61346\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}