China introduces additional benefits targeted at increasing the country’s decreasing birth rate.

China introduced a raft of incentives geared at encouraging families to have more children on Tuesday, as birth rates hit a record low and officials warned that the population would begin to decrease by 2025.

The world’s most populous country has been dealing with an impending demographic crisis as it deals with an ageing workforce, a weakening economy, and the slowest population increase in decades.

Despite the fact that Beijing lifted its draconian “one-child ban” in 2016 and permitted couples to have three children last year, birth rates have fallen over the last five years.

The National Health Commission announced policy guidelines on Tuesday urging both the federal and provincial governments to enhance expenditure on reproductive health and improve childcare facilities nationally.

They compel local governments to “adopt active fertility support measures,” such as providing subsidies, tax breaks, and better health insurance for young families, as well as education, housing, and employment assistance.

In order to alleviate the significant lack of childcare facilities, all provinces must ensure that there are enough nurseries for children aged two to three by the end of the year.

Richer To encourage women to have more children, Chinese cities have started providing tax and housing rebates, educational perks, and even monetary incentives, and the latest recommendations seek to drive all provinces to implement similar policies.

According to National Bureau of Statistics data, China’s birth rate fell to 7.52 births per 1,000 people last year, the lowest since records began in 1949, when Communist China was created.

Higher living costs and a cultural shift as people become accustomed to fewer families have been identified as explanations for the reduced number of kids.

China’s population will begin to decline by 2025, according to health officials earlier this month.