A picture of a couple at the marriage registration office in Changzhou city in China’s Zhejiang province – Photo: Reuters
Changzhou district in China’s Zhejiang province said it would reward 137 USD (about 3.3 million VND) to married couples whose brides are 25 years old or younger, Reuters news agency reported on August 29.
It is the latest move to show that local authorities in the country of billions are trying to encourage young people to marry amid concerns about falling birth rates.
A notice posted on Weibo last week by the Changzhou county government said it would award the prize to encourage youths to marry “at an age suitable for marriage and childbearing”.
First time couples having children will be given various fertility, child care and educational benefits as well as bonuses.
Amid the country’s first population decline, the Chinese government is taking urgent measures to raise the birth rate, including offering bonuses or improving child care facilities. 6 decades and aging fast.
The legal age of marriage in China is 22 for men and 20 for women. Government data released in June also suggests the marriage rate will hit a record low in 2022, with 6.8 million couples getting married.
According to Chinese state media, the country’s birth rate, almost the lowest in the world, will reach a record low of 1.09 in 2022.
China is one of the most expensive countries in the world to raise children. Specifically, the cost of child-rearing here until the age of 18 is 6.9 times higher than per capita GDP, twice the cost of child-rearing in Germany and three times higher than in France.
Weak consumption and concerns about the “healthy” level of China’s economy are also among the main reasons young people in this country don’t want to marry and have children.
(Tagstotranslate) age at marriage
