No ‘out-of-pocket expenses’ for childbirth in China from 2026
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The move comes as Beijing grapples with how to boost the country’s flagging population.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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HONG KONG - China will cover all out-of-pocket expenses related to childbirth in 2026, said the country’s national healthcare security administration, as the authorities try to incentivise more young couples to have children.
By 2026, China will aim to offer nationwide full reimbursement for all policy-covered medical expenses related to childbirth, including pre-natal check-ups, the administration said.
It would “improve the level of medical expense coverage for prenatal examinations, striving to achieve ‘no out-of-pocket expenses’ for childbirth”, it said in a report on Dec 13.
The move comes as Beijing grapples with how to boost the country’s flagging population.
China’s population dropped for the first time in decades in 2022
Demographers expect the trend to continue due to declining birth rates, while the country’s shrinking workforce and growing elderly population are likely to create additional strains for already-indebted local governments.
China’s birth rates have been falling for decades as a result of the one-child policy that was in place from 1980 to 2015, as well as rapid urbanisation.
The high costs of childcare and education, as well as job uncertainty and a slowing economy, have also discouraged many young Chinese from getting married and starting a family.
Some Chinese provinces, including in Jilin, Jiangsu and Shandong, have already unveiled policies to make childbirth almost free of charge.
China said in March that it would “actively” respond with policies for its rapidly growing elderly and its young people, including providing childcare subsidies and making pre-school education free.
The authorities have previously tried to encourage couples to have babies by expanding maternity leave, financial and tax benefits, and housing subsidies. REUTERS
