China is renewing efforts to push young people to marry and have several children

One small number: Fertility rate

1.2: China’s total fertility rate, or TFR—the number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime—is one of the lowest in the world. In the US and the UK, the TFR is 1.7 and 1.6 respectively. In India, whose population recently beat China’s, the TFR is 2.

Date of interest: May 20

Civil affairs agencies in several cities around China have announced that they will remain open for marriage registrations on May 20. Many Chinese couples already choose the date for marriage registry because “520” sounds similar to “I love you” in Chinese.

A non-exhaustive list of incentives the Chinese government is giving families to have more kids

💰 Shenzhen will offer families having a third child or more a cash allowance of 19,000 yuan ($2,825) in total until the child reaches the age of 3, according to draft rules released by the city’s health authority in January.

🏫In the city of Weifang in the eastern province of Shandong—China’s second-most populous province—families with three children will be eligible for free high school education in addition to the country’s nine-year free compulsory education, according to domestic media reports.

🏠 In the eastern city of Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, permanent residents with two or three children under the age of 18 are eligible for a subsidy of up to 300 yuan ($45) per square meter when buying a house. Hangzhou, which is located in northwestern Zhejiang province, is offering a one-time 5,000 ($727) yuan subsidy for families with two children, and 20,000 yuan ($2,907). It also loosened purchase restrictions to do with the number of housing units that can be purchased for families with more kids. Leshan in the southwestern Sichuan province provides 5,000 yuan for each newly built commercial house purchase to families with two children or more.

🤰The government’s political advisers have proposed that single and unmarried women should have access to egg freezing and IVF treatment.

💼The state council encourages employers to allow flexible hours and the option to work from home for employees with children.

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