Government incentives urged to increase birthrate

A renowned economist and demographer on Friday called for more supportive policies to encourage people to have children as the country faces the increasingly pressing issue of aging.

The decline in the birthrate in China is the result of expensive child care, and the government should foot the bills and lower the costs, said Cai Fang, also deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

China loosened its family planning policy in 2015 to allow all couples to have two children, but the birthrate only experienced a small increase in the next year and continues to move toward a dangerously low level.