China's biggest online travel agency to pay employees 1 bn yuan to have kids as population rapidly ages, birth rate fall

As China is struggling with an ageing population and low birth rate, the country’s biggest online travel agency Trip.com Group announced on Friday that it would pay 50,000 yuan ($6,897.69) to employees for each child they have starting July 1 – the first such initiative by a large private company.

“We would pay a parental cash subsidy of 10,000 yuan annually for five years for every child born to its employees worldwide,” said the company which is one of the world’s largest online travel agencies, with 400 million users.

China’s dwindling birth rate has become a cause of concern among policymakers and the government.

Many Chinese women are reluctant to have more than one or even any children due to the high costs of child-rearing and as the lack of childcare means becoming a parent often entails giving up a career.

Gender discrimination and traditional thinking that places the burden of caring for children mostly on women are still widespread throughout the country. Authorities have in recent months increased rhetoric about sharing child-rearing duties but paternity leave is still limited in most provinces.

Opening up fertility services to unmarried women may help to boost the country’s fertility rate, the government’s political advisers proposed in March.

The programme will cost about 1 billion yuan, the company said. “I have always suggested that the government give money to families with children, especially multiple children, to … help more young people fulfil their desire to have multiple children,” Trip.com executive chairman James Liang said in a statement. “Companies can also play a role within their capabilities to build a favourable fertility atmosphere.”

In the wake of a one-child policy that lasted from 1980 to 2015, demographers have warned that China will get old before it gets rich, as its workforce shrinks and indebted local governments spend more on their elderly population.

China’s birth rate last year fell to 6.77 births per 1,000 people, from 7.52 births in 2021, the lowest on record.

Authorities in 2021 said couples could have as many as three children, but couples have been reluctant to have babies even during the stay-at-home COVID years.

Young people cite high childcare and education costs, low income, a weak social safety net and gender inequality, as discouraging factors.

Liang, a demographer, published a book titled “Population Strategies: How Population Affects Economy and Innovation” this year and has suggested that 2% of China’s GDP should be put toward encouraging fertility.

With inputs from agencies

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