High Child-Rearing Costs and Career Impacts Drive China's Plummeting Fertility Rates
• China has one of the highest costs of raising a child relative to GDP per capita in the world, making it expensive to have kids • The high child-rearing costs combined with impacts to women's careers is driving China's extremely low fertility rate • Women face workplace discrimination, pay cuts, and career impacts for taking maternity leave and having kids • Childcare and housework falls primarily on women, costing them leisure and work time • The report urged policies to reduce childbirth costs like cash subsidies, equal parental leave, and protecting single women's reproductive rights