Beijing, China

Raising children can be expensive, irrespective of which country you are residing or are a citizen of. However, as per a recent report from the YuWa Population Research Institute, China is one of the most expensive places to raise children. The report released on Wednesday says that the high costs have a disproportionate impact on women.

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China and Children

China is facing a significant challenge with its declining birth rate. This problem has been exacerbated by the high cost of raising children in China.

As per the report by YuWa Population Research Institute, in China, on average, raising a child from birth to age 17 costs about $74,800. Furthermore, supporting an offspring through a bachelor's degree raises that cost to over $94,500. 

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Also read | China ageing fast: Births fall by 10% to an all-time low, raising economic concerns

This expense is roughly 6.3 times higher than China's GDP per capita, claims the report. This high cost is only second to South Korea, which not only has the world's lowest fertility rate but also the highest child-rearing costs that come up to 7.79 times the GDP per capita.

In comparison, this cost in Australia is just 2.08 times the GDP per capita. In France it is 2.24 time, and in the United States it is 4.11 times.

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The burden on women

Women taking a maternity leave continue to face "unfair treatment" at work. Furthermore, many companies avoid recruiting women of childbearing age. Citing research from multiple papers, it further reports that women who have children may see up to 12 per cent to 17 per cent drop in their wages.

While earlier women were willing to make the sacrifice, with many choosing to stay at home to take care of the children, now, to many of them, the sacrifice doesn't seem worth the payoff, states the report.

Not just at work, their family life also contributed to the reluctance. Research has shown that in China, women continue to bear the primary responsibility for household tasks like cooking, cleaning, shopping, and child-rearing, etc.

Also read | China eases marriage registration process for migrant workers to tackle population crisis

According to the report, "Chinese people’s willingness to have children is almost the lowest in the world."

This, it says, is "Due to reasons such as the high cost of childbearing and the difficulty for women to balance family and work."

"It is no exaggeration to describe the current population situation as a collapse in the birth population."

China's population decline

For the past two years, China's population has been shrinking. In April 2023, this even led to India gaining the title of the world's most populous country. 

In 2023, the nation recorded its lowest birth rate since the founding of Communist China in 1949, reports CNN.

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Despite efforts by the government to encourage more births, such as relaxing its stringent one-child birth policy and offering financial incentives, many women are still reluctant to have children.

"Because the current social environment in China is not conducive to women’s childbirth, the time cost and opportunity cost for women to have children are too high," it states.

The report warns that the falling birthrate could potentially impact economic growth, people's overall happiness and China’s global standing. It further urged the government to reduce the cost of childbirth "as soon as possible."

(With inputs from agencies)