Liaoning Will Pay for Babies

Global Times: Liaoning Province plans to reward couples for having two children

Northeast China's Liaoning Province plans to reward couples who give birth to two children on taxes, education and housing - the first province to introduce such incentives. But it seems unlikely to improve the province's low fertility rate, analysts said.

To lighten the load of raising children, the provincial government vowed to improve policies on personal taxes, education, social welfare and housing to provide more incentives to a family of four, according to the provincial population development plan (2016-30) issued by the Liaoning government last week. No details on the incentives were provided.

Skeptics aren't sold:

"The plan is more like 'a castle in the air,' which will unlikely reach its goals," Huang Wenzheng, an expert on demographics, told the Global Times.

Liaoning's fertility rate may remain at 0.9 for the next 10 years, and may even drop due to the continuing lack of interest among people of childbearing age, Huang said.