The cost of raising a child to age 18 in China is 6.3 times greater than China’s per-capita GDP, according to a recent report by primary Taiwanese news agency Central News Agency (CNA). By comparison, the cost of raising a Child in Australia is only 2.08 times Australia’s per-capita GDP. The costs in France, Sweden, Germany, the United States and Japan were (respectively) 2.24 times, 2.91 times, 3.64 times, 4.11 times, and 4.26 times each country’s per-capita GDP.
The CNA article cited the “China Childbirth Cost Report, 2024 Edition,” published by Chinese think tank Yuwa Population Research. Yuwa specializes in population and related public policy issues. The Report said that the cost of parenting is one of the most important factors affecting families’ willingness to have children. According to a 2017 survey by China’s National Health and Family Planning Commission, the top three reasons why women of childbearing age abstain from having children are: heavy financial burden (77.4 percent), age (45.6 percent), and lack of a caretaker for the child (33.2 percent).
China’s population shrunk in 2023 for the second consecutive year after peaking in 2021. The number of Chinese newborns in 2023 has dropped to about half of the level seen in 2016.
Source: CNA, February 21, 2024
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202402210348.aspx