A 100-Billion-Yuan Baby Bonus to Boost Births? Exposing the Big Scam of “The State Will Raise Your Child” (Video)
[People News] Recently, China’s Ministry of Finance, together with the National Health Commission, dropped what they called a “bombshell”: the central government will allocate 99.9 billion yuan, while local governments at all levels will contribute another 10.1 billion yuan, for a total of 110 billion yuan to fund newborn childcare subsidies in 2026.
As long as your child is born after January 1, 2025, you can receive 300 yuan per month—3,600 yuan a year—for three consecutive years, totalling 10,800 yuan. As soon as this policy was announced, state media launched an overwhelming प्रचार campaign, touting it as “real money to boost births” and claiming that “the state will help raise your child.”
However, instead of gratitude, this so-called “baby bonus” has been met with widespread ridicule among the public. Netizens on social media quickly did the math: 300 yuan a month in today’s major Chinese cities can’t even buy half a can of imported infant formula; it barely covers a few days’ worth of diapers.
On the surface, it’s a subsidy, but in reality, it’s a piece of absurd black humour. It’s like someone who pushed you off a cliff, then hands you a Band-Aid at the bottom and expects your heartfelt gratitude.
Today, starting from this “hundred-billion” childcare subsidy, we will peel back the warm and fuzzy fiscal façade to examine the demographic black hole collapsing at an unprecedented speed in human history—and the grand drama orchestrated by authoritarian rule, ultimately brought to its finale by a generation of young Chinese people collectively choosing to “lie flat.”
Birth Rate Falls Back to the Qianlong Era
To understand why China’s Ministry of Finance is willing to scrape together over 100 billion yuan to encourage births—even as debt piles up and government officials tighten their belts—we must look at a shocking set of demographic data.
According to the latest figures released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics, the number of births in 2025 fell below 8 million, landing at 7.92 million.
What does 7.92 million mean?
Demographers have made a historical comparison: the last time China’s annual births were around 8 million was during the third year of the Qianlong Emperor’s reign in the Qing Dynasty, in 1738.
At that time, China’s total population was only about 150 million. In other words, today’s modern nation of 1.4 billion people has a reproductive capacity comparable to that of a traditional agricultural society three centuries ago with just 150 million people.
This is not a slowdown—it’s a collapse. It is the most severe population contraction in modern Chinese history. While East Asian societies like Taiwan and South Korea are known for extremely low fertility rates, China’s situation appears even more alarming.
Since the failure of the “universal two-child policy” in 2016, China’s total fertility rate has plummeted in less than a decade, dropping below the critical threshold of 1.0 and hovering around 0.97–0.98.
In demography, a fertility rate of 2.1 is needed to maintain population replacement. Falling below 1.0 means each generation will shrink to less than half the size of the previous one—a geometric chain reaction of decline.
United Nations population projections even suggest that, at this pace, China’s population could fall from 1.4 billion today to about 405 million by 2100.
Meanwhile, deaths rose to 11.31 million in 2025. This means China has been in negative population growth for four consecutive years, with the gap widening like a snowball.
And this is why the authorities are panicking. The “demographic dividend” that once sustained economic growth, authoritarian stability, and global ambition has not only disappeared—it has turned into a ticking time bomb.
When the “Workhorses” Refuse to Pay
Faced with this looming “grey rhino,” the government has not been idle.
Policies have been rolled out one after another: from “selective two-child” to “universal two-child,” then “three-child,” and now effectively unlimited births—with cash incentives added. Maternity leave has been extended from 98 to 158 days, tax deductions increased, and now this 99.9-billion-yuan subsidy.
And the result? As we’ve seen, the more incentives, the lower the birth rate. Why?
Because the authorities underestimate people’s intelligence; they are used to managing citizens as if they were livestock, not modern individuals with independent thinking.
For decades, economic growth has been built on the exploitation of cheap labour. Young people face the world’s highest housing price-to-income ratios, endure the “996” work culture, and suffer from unequal access to healthcare and education.
In such a system—where people are treated as tools or fuel—having children is no longer a natural, joyful life choice. It has become a high-risk financial liability.
The authorities think a few thousand yuan can lure people into parenthood, like ringing a bell to feed livestock. They either don’t understand—or pretend not to understand—that young people are not unwilling to have children; they simply “cannot afford to” and “dare not to.”
This “ineffective stimulus” is, in essence, a silent resistance by young Chinese against an exploitative system and relentless internal competition. With upward mobility blocked and voices suppressed, many have chosen a decisive path: no marriage, no children, no property.
The Blood Debt of Family Planning
Historically, the regime has treated its 1.4 billion citizens as tools—pawns in its political ambitions.
In the 1950s, Mao Zedong promoted “more people, more strength,” encouraging large families and suppressing dissenting voices like Ma Yinchu, who advocated population control. The result was a population explosion and resource strain.
In the 1980s, to mask systemic failures, the regime imposed the brutal one-child policy—one of the harshest population control measures in human history—leaving a legacy of suffering spanning over three decades.
Under slogans like “better ten graves than one extra birth,” countless late-term abortions were forcibly carried out. Families with unauthorised children faced crushing fines, demolished homes, confiscated livestock, and job loss.
During that era, having an extra child was a crime. Women’s bodies were treated as state property under the control of family planning authorities.
But today, with labour shortages, pension crises, and economic stagnation looming, the same system now urges people to have more children.
Yesterday, having an extra child could ruin your life. Today, not having one is labelled “unpatriotic.” Yesterday, sterilisation was enforced. Today, childbirth is encouraged.
This arbitrary control over reproductive rights is a profound violation of human dignity.
Yet this time, the plan is failing. China’s younger generation is no longer like their parents. Decades of internet exposure and recent social realities have sharpened their awareness of systemic contradictions.
They remember the viral slogan during the 2022 Shanghai lockdown: “This is our last generation, thank you.” It was one of the most powerful declarations in modern Chinese history.
It signalled a generation’s awakening. If threatened across generations, they choose to end the cycle entirely—refusing to pass on suffering. This is a final, silent act of resistance.
A Drop in the Bucket
From a purely economic perspective, the 110 billion yuan subsidy is negligible.
According to the latest China Child-Rearing Cost Report 2026, raising a child to age 18 costs an average of 713,000 yuan in urban areas and 392,000 yuan in rural areas. Including university education, housing, and marriage expenses, the cost becomes astronomical.
And what does the government offer? 10,800 yuan over three years.
That’s less than 1% of the total cost—yet families are expected to shoulder the remaining 99% while contributing future labour, taxes, and pension support.
This is not welfare—it’s a calculated investment scheme.
Moreover, in the current economic climate, young people struggle just to secure their own livelihoods. Mortgages, car loans, and job insecurity weigh heavily. Even “free” education comes with intense competition and hidden costs.
Meanwhile, local governments—already financially strained—may struggle to fulfil their share of the subsidies.
Trying to counteract structural pressures like high housing costs, low welfare, unemployment, and insecurity with a modest cash incentive is like trying to put out a forest fire with a cup of water.
The Cycle of Authoritarianism and Historical Fate
At its core, this population crisis is not merely a social issue—it is a classic case of authoritarian backlash.
Since its founding, the regime’s logic has relied on monopolising resources and extracting value from society. It distrusts markets and human nature, relying instead on control and force.
It once eliminated hundreds of millions of potential lives through coercive policies, creating today’s ageing crisis.
Now, as the consequences threaten its survival, it attempts to manipulate society once again.
But history’s irony is clear: power can build walls, suppress speech, and deploy force—but it cannot compel a person who has lost hope in the future to create new life.
China’s young people have made their stance clear. They refuse to supply the system with future labour. They refuse to let their children endure the same hardships.
When having children becomes a luxury, and not having them becomes resistance, the system that depends on demographic extraction begins to reach its end.
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