AsiaOne on Nostr: China's childcare costs among highest in world, think tank says ========== China is ...
China's childcare costs among highest in world, think tank says
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China is one of the world's most expensive places to raise a child, with the cost of raising a child until they are 18 relative to per capita GDP being around 6.3 times in China. This is compared to 2.08 times in Australia, 2.24 times in France, 4.11 times in the US, and 4.26 times in Japan. Raising children also leads to a reduction in women's paid work hours and wage rates, while men's livelihoods remain largely unchanged. The current social environment in China is not friendly to women's fertility, resulting in high time and opportunity costs for women to have children. China's population fell for a second consecutive year in 2023, with an increasing number of women opting not to have children due to high childcare costs, unwillingness to marry or put their careers on hold, and gender discrimination. Women generally see a reduction of 2,106 working hours and an estimated wage loss of 63,000 yuan when looking after children aged 0-4. Having a child also leads to a 12-17% drop in women's wages. The report calls for policies to reduce the cost of childbearing, such as cash and tax subsidies, improved childcare services, equal maternity and paternity leave, access to foreign nannies, allowing flexible working, and giving single women the same reproductive rights as married women. The measures together could increase new births to around three million. If the current ultra-low fertility rate cannot be improved, China's population will rapidly decline and age, negatively impacting innovation and overall national strength.
#China #ChildcareCosts #Fertility #PopulationDecline #GenderDiscrimination
https://www.asiaone.com/china/chinas-childcare-costs-among-highest-world-think-tank-says
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China is one of the world's most expensive places to raise a child, with the cost of raising a child until they are 18 relative to per capita GDP being around 6.3 times in China. This is compared to 2.08 times in Australia, 2.24 times in France, 4.11 times in the US, and 4.26 times in Japan. Raising children also leads to a reduction in women's paid work hours and wage rates, while men's livelihoods remain largely unchanged. The current social environment in China is not friendly to women's fertility, resulting in high time and opportunity costs for women to have children. China's population fell for a second consecutive year in 2023, with an increasing number of women opting not to have children due to high childcare costs, unwillingness to marry or put their careers on hold, and gender discrimination. Women generally see a reduction of 2,106 working hours and an estimated wage loss of 63,000 yuan when looking after children aged 0-4. Having a child also leads to a 12-17% drop in women's wages. The report calls for policies to reduce the cost of childbearing, such as cash and tax subsidies, improved childcare services, equal maternity and paternity leave, access to foreign nannies, allowing flexible working, and giving single women the same reproductive rights as married women. The measures together could increase new births to around three million. If the current ultra-low fertility rate cannot be improved, China's population will rapidly decline and age, negatively impacting innovation and overall national strength.
#China #ChildcareCosts #Fertility #PopulationDecline #GenderDiscrimination
https://www.asiaone.com/china/chinas-childcare-costs-among-highest-world-think-tank-says