To encourage working women to have babies, is it enough to rely on child development subsidies?

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For some time, many places have encouraged childbearing by issuing childcare subsidies. However, for working women, these subsidies seem to be a drop in the bucket compared to the long-term cost of raising and educating and the opportunity cost of childbirth. In the future, it is also necessary to improve the fertility willingness of women in the workplace through a series of policies such as improving maternity leave, childcare services, taxation, and housing security.

Recently, Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia, proposed to issue a one-time childcare subsidy of 5000,<> yuan to families with two or three children in the city.

The reporter combed and found that since 2021, Sichuan Panzhihua, Yunnan, Ningxia, Hangzhou, Zhengzhou, Changsha and other places have introduced the "baby money" policy to issue birth subsidies to eligible families, ranging from a few hundred yuan per month to a one-time tens of thousands of yuan.

The purpose of implementing these policies is to reduce people's burden of childbearing, so that more families "want to have children, dare to have children, and are willing to have children". So, for women in the workplace, how effective are these policies in encouraging them to have children? The reporter conducted an interview on this.

"Real money" promotes fertility

Recently, Li Jiaxin, who works as a dance teacher in Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, submitted an application for a one-time birth subsidy. This year, Wenzhou City issued a policy to issue one-time birth subsidies of 1000,2000 yuan, 3000,<> yuan and <>,<> yuan respectively to families with one, two and three children.

Since the implementation of the three-child policy, many places have launched a new policy of "real money" childcare subsidies in order to encourage childbirth. The reporter noticed that there are big differences in policies in various places. In most regions, subsidies are paid to families with two or three children, in the form of monthly, annual and lump sum. Most of these cities that issue childcare subsidies require the child's date of birth and household registration.

"In the past, I saw that other cities only had subsidies for giving birth to two or three children, but I didn't expect Wenzhou to be able to apply for subsidies if they had one child." Li Jiaxin, who just gave birth to a child in December 2022, told reporters.

The reporter found that Linze County in Gansu Province, Ningshan County in Shaanxi Province, Wenzhou City in Zhejiang Province and other places included one child in the scope of childcare subsidies. In January this year, Shenzhen proposed to issue one-time birth subsidies of 1,7500 yuan, 11000,19000 yuan and <>,<> yuan respectively to families with one, two and three children in accordance with the differentiated and progressive formula.

In addition, some enterprises have also introduced measures to encourage employees to have children. For example, Ctrip Group, a travel service platform, proposed that global employees who have been employed for three years, regardless of gender, will receive a cash subsidy of 3,1 yuan per year for each new child, which will be distributed until the child reaches the age of 5. Qiaoyin Co., Ltd., a sanitation service company, announced to its employees that one-child families can enjoy monthly subsidies of 0,3 yuan, 1400,1050 yuan and 500 yuan respectively for milk powder and diapers between the ages of 10 and <>. Two-child families can apply for public kindergarten tuition on this basis; Three-child families will receive another <>,<> yuan on the basis of the above.

It is hoped that inclusive childcare services will be increased

After learning that Shenzhen plans to launch a childcare subsidy policy, Gao Zhen, a working mother living there, does not seem to be tempted. "The cost of childbirth is too high, and even if there is a subsidy, it is a drop in the bucket." She told reporters.

Gao Zhen calculated a maternity account to reporters, after the maternity leave, because there was no one at home to take care of the child, she hired a childcare sister-in-law, with a monthly salary of 7000,<> yuan, plus diapers, milk powder and other daily necessities, and the fixed expenditure of raising children every month was nearly <>,<> yuan.

"Combined with the amount of subsidies to be launched in Shenzhen, it is not enough for a month's expenses." Gao Zhen said that she and her husband had to work hard to earn money to pay for these expenses, "Having a second child, from pregnancy to maternity leave, will have to 'delay' for a year and a half, which will inevitably affect my career development." It is very difficult for working women to balance family and work. ”

The reporter interviewed a number of working women, and their views on childcare subsidies in encouraging childbirth are similar to Gao Zhen's.

After returning to the workplace, Li Jiaxin found that raising children requires not only "real money", but also professional and inclusive childcare services. "When I was a child, when my parents went to work, they sent me to the nursery school at work, and then I went home with my parents when I got off work." Now, Li Jiaxin is looking forward to increasing inclusive childcare services to reduce the financial and psychological burden of parenting for dual-income families.

In order to allow women to take care of their babies and work at the same time, some places have made positive attempts. Zhongshan, Foshan and other places in Guangdong have successively held a number of "mother post" job fairs. In August this year, Guangdong Province proposed to extensively develop and set up "mother posts" to support enterprises, social organizations and other employers to set up "mother posts" for positions with flexible working hours, low labor intensity and good working environment, and implement flexible work and flexible working methods.

Improving fertility intentions requires a combination of policies

Sheng Yinan, a professor at the Institute of Population Economics and Economics at Capital University of Economics and Business, believes that for most working parents, the cost of childbirth not only includes direct costs such as pregnancy tests and child rearing, but also opportunity costs and psychological costs.

"At present, the birth subsidy in various places can alleviate the economic pressure of families raising children to a certain extent, but it has a limited effect on the long-term cost of raising and educating children, and it is difficult to reduce the opportunity cost and psychological cost of childbirth. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the willingness to have children by improving policies such as maternity leave, childcare services, taxation, and housing security. Sheng Yinan said.

Regarding the attempt to set up "mother posts" in some areas, Xiong Bingqi, president of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, pointed out that the original intention of this move was to allow some working women to balance work and family. However, he believes that the "mother post" post is limited, and it is more critical to solve the problem of infant and toddler care. "To alleviate the difficulty of childcare, it is still necessary to play a leading role of the government and actively promote inclusive childcare services."

The reporter noticed that in recent years, in the policy documents issued to encourage childbirth in various places, measures such as "improving the support policy for infant and child care services" and "accelerating the construction of a childbirth-friendly environment" have appeared frequently. For example, Jinan, Shandong Province proposed to support qualified organs, enterprises, institutions, and communities to provide childcare services for in-service employees and residents; Zhengzhou, Henan Province plans that by 2025, all communities in the city will open no less than 20 inclusive childcare places.

"Employers should be encouraged to provide a family-friendly working environment for their workers. At the same time, the rights and interests of employers should also be protected, and a certain percentage of deductions should be allowed to be made when the employer pays the wages of female employees during childbirth and maternity leave, so as to reduce the cost of childbirth to the employer. Sheng Yinan suggested.

(Workers' Daily, Cao Yue)