China’s birth rate incentives not yet moving the needle for weary families

Pronatalist policy is having less of a stimulus effect on China’s falling birth rate than intended, as families that already have one child appear uninterested in raising more.

The number of babies born second or later in Chinese families last year accounted for 53.9 per cent of all newborns, down from 55.9 per cent in 2021 according to data released by the National Health Commission (NHC) on Thursday.