To encourage families to have more children, the state is providing substantial financial support. On June 2nd, the Ministry of Finance announced the recent allocation of 99.9 billion yuan in child-rearing subsidy funds for 2026, marking a 10.6% increase from the previous year. These funds are intended to support local governments in providing subsidies to eligible infants and young children. It is projected that total fiscal subsidies from all levels of government will reach approximately 110 billion yuan for the full year.
This year, a range of policies aimed at boosting fertility have been introduced at both the national and local levels, covering areas such as child-rearing allowances, maternity benefits, medical care for childbirth, and one-time grants. Industry experts believe these policies clearly demonstrate the government's intensified focus on promoting childbirth. However, to genuinely increase the public's willingness to have children, more detailed and comprehensive supporting measures are still needed for effective implementation.
Key Measures to Encourage Childbirth
Starting from 2025, families can receive an annual subsidy of 3,600 yuan per child, regardless of whether it's their first, second, or third child, until the child reaches 3 years old. In the last year alone, fiscal authorities at all levels allocated around 100 billion yuan for these child-rearing subsidies, benefiting over 30 million infants and young children nationwide. The recent allocation of 99.9 billion yuan for 2026 is part of this ongoing effort, with total annual funding expected to be about 110 billion yuan. Health authorities at various levels are responsible for organizing the review and distribution of these subsidies, which are to be disbursed in batches at least quarterly.
Beyond the child-rearing subsidy package, several other policies have been introduced this year to encourage childbirth. For instance, the direct payment of maternity allowances to individuals has been expanded nationwide. Building on the foundation where 27 provinces and 95% of coordinating regions had already implemented direct payments, regions including Guizhou, Guangxi, Xinjiang, Beijing, and Tianjin issued documents late last year planning to roll out direct personal payments of maternity allowances starting in 2026. Beijing, for example, stipulated in December 2025 that from January 31, 2026, maternity allowances for insured female employees would be paid directly to individuals.
Furthermore, efforts are underway to include flexible workers, migrant workers, and workers in new forms of employment within the coverage of maternity insurance. Late last year, Jiangsu province issued a notice stating that self-employed individuals without employees, part-time workers, other flexible workers, migrant workers, and those in new forms of employment who participate in and fully contribute to the provincial basic medical insurance for employees can enjoy medical expense reimbursement and maternity allowances as per regulations.
Additionally, the level of coverage for prenatal check-up medical expenses is set to improve this year, with the goal of achieving essentially zero out-of-pocket costs for policy-covered delivery expenses nationwide. Previously, seven provinces including Jilin, Jiangsu, and Shandong had already achieved full coverage for policy-covered inpatient delivery medical costs.
Regarding childcare services, by the beginning of this year, over 1,000 counties (cities, districts, banners) across the country had introduced measures such as construction subsidies, operational subsidies, and family consumption vouchers for childcare facilities, leading to a 29% average decrease in the cost of full-day care nationwide. On top of this, several cities have enhanced fertility benefits, with some offering direct cash payments for childbirth. For instance, Hangzhou announced late last year a one-time grant of 2,000 yuan for a second child and 5,000 yuan for a third child. Earlier, in March 2025, Hohhot introduced a policy offering child-rearing subsidies of 10,000 yuan, 50,000 yuan (paid over five years), and 100,000 yuan (paid over ten years) to families with at least one parent registered in the city who have their first, second, or third (and subsequent) child respectively after March 1, 2025, provided the child is also registered in the city.
A Systemic Challenge: Aging Population and Low Fertility
The allocation of these substantial child-rearing subsidy funds fully reflects the state's ongoing commitment to strengthening fertility policies and alleviating the financial burden of raising a family. Behind the push to boost fertility rates are China's deepening aging population and declining number of births. According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, by the end of 2025, China's population aged 60 and above reached 323 million, accounting for 23% of the total, surpassing the 230 million people aged 0-15 who make up 16.4% of the population. Simultaneously, the number of births in 2025 was only 7.92 million, remaining at a low level in recent years.
Nevertheless, China's labor force resources remain relatively abundant. Using the internationally common working-age population definition, China's population aged 15-64 is approximately 968 million, constituting 68.9% of the national population and ranking among the highest globally. In the long term, encouraging childbirth and optimizing the population structure remain crucial.
Experts point out that contemporary families' concerns about having children are not solely due to economic pressure but stem from the high comprehensive cost of child-rearing and the need for further improvement in supporting systems. To genuinely increase the willingness to have children, more detailed and comprehensive supporting policies need to be implemented effectively. Suggested measures include, on the basis of universal subsidies, appropriately tilting support towards families with two or three children while simultaneously increasing the personal income tax special additional deduction amounts for infant care and children's education. Secondly, there is a need to significantly expand accessible and affordable childcare resources by adding community-based, enterprise-supported, and park-embedded childcare spaces to address the challenge of childcare for dual-income families. Furthermore, implementing specialized housing support, giving priority and preferential treatment to multi-child families in areas such as public rental housing allocation, home purchase loans, and rental subsidies, is recommended.
Additionally, creating a family-friendly workplace environment and eliminating workplace discrimination against women related to childbirth are essential. In terms of reducing educational burdens, improving accessible pre-school education and after-school care services within schools could help. By comprehensively addressing bottlenecks related to childbirth, child-rearing, and education, and forming a cohesive policy effort, it is possible to alleviate families' concerns and ultimately increase the birth rate.
Parenting Network (ASX: PNE)
As a company operating in the parenting and family services sector, Parenting Network may be positioned within an industry that could see indirect effects from broader national policies aimed at supporting families and encouraging childbirth. The company's focus on providing resources and services for parents aligns with the societal goals underlying these new fiscal measures. However, the direct financial impact on specific companies would depend on their exact business models and market exposure within the evolving policy landscape focused on family support and child development.