The True Cost of Raising Kids

If your child was born after January 1, 2025, and is under 3 years old, you qualify for this payment. One parent or legal guardian can submit the application at the child’s hukou office. The allowance is 3,600 yuan per year per child, paid out until the child reaches age 3. No personal income tax applies to this money, and it does not count toward any dibao or similar assistance calculations.

Cost

Zero out-of-pocket expense. Simply apply at the local hukou office where your child is registered — one visit is all it takes.

Benefit

As stipulated in the policy issued by the General Offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, infants and toddlers born after January 1, 2025, and under 3 years of age are eligible for a yearly payment of 3,600 yuan per child. This amount is exempt from personal income tax and is excluded from calculations of household or individual income when determining eligibility for dibao or similar programs.

Note

This is a nationwide baseline benefit. Certain provinces and municipalities also offer their own local subsidies, which can be claimed alongside this national payment. Over three years, the total comes to 10,800 yuan — a modest contribution toward raising a child. Do not let this amount influence your decision about whether or not to have a child.

You’re entitled to at least 98 days of maternity leave, including up to 15 days you can take before the birth. If the delivery is difficult, you get an extra 15 days. For each additional child born, you receive another 15 days of leave. The money paid during this time is called maternity benefits and comes from the maternity insurance fund. If your employer hasn’t enrolled in this insurance, they must pay the benefits themselves.

Cost

There is no cost to you. Your employer handles all the paperwork — you don’t need to do anything.

Benefit

The length of maternity leave is set by the State Council: “Female employees are entitled to 98 days of maternity leave, including 15 days before delivery; an extra 15 days are added for difficult deliveries; for each additional child born, an additional 15 days of leave are granted.” The payments received during this period are known as maternity benefits. For employees covered by maternity insurance, these benefits are paid by the insurance fund at the rate of the employer’s average monthly wage from the prior year. Employees not covered by insurance receive benefits from their employer at the same wage level they earned before taking leave.

Note

98 days is the minimum standard mandated by the state. Most provincial regulations on family planning add at least 60 days of additional “reward leave” for childbirth, bringing the total to at least 158 days in most regions. The party responsible for paying wages during this reward leave varies by province.

During pregnancy, after giving birth, or while breastfeeding, it is illegal for employers to cut your pay or fire you. Violators face fines ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 yuan per employee. For infants under one year old, you are entitled to one hour of breastfeeding time each day, and employers cannot assign you overtime or night shifts. Instructions on how to file a claim can be found in Section 19.

Cost

No cost at all

Benefit

As stipulated by the State Council, “Employers must not reduce the wages of female employees, fire them, or terminate their labor or employment contracts due to pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding.” In other words, during these periods, employers cannot lower your pay, fire you, or end your contract. Mothers of infants under one year old are entitled to one hour of breastfeeding time daily, and employers must not require them to work extra hours or night shifts. Any violations result in fines of at least 1,000 yuan and up to 5,000 yuan per employee.

Note

If you are illegally fired, refer to Section 19 for steps on filing a claim. Key evidence includes any written notices or messages regarding job reassignment or pay cuts — be sure to keep these records safe.

Count up all the hours spent caring for the child each day, plus every nighttime wake-up call. Then multiply that total by the hourly wage of the person doing the work. The resulting figure is usually far higher than the cost of formula and diapers. That’s why it’s best to discuss how responsibilities will be divided before having a child.

Cost

There’s no monetary expense — only time is spent. For children under 3, that time is essentially taken up around the clock. The difficulty lies in the fact that this happens daily, not just for a few tough days.

Benefit

By converting daily childcare time and nighttime interruptions into hours, then multiplying by the caregiver’s hourly wage, you arrive at a number that typically exceeds the cost of formula and diapers. Even unpaid tasks like childcare, cooking, and nightly wake-ups should be treated the same way — converted to hours and multiplied by a wage figure to be included in the total cost. The calculation method mirrors that used in Section 10 for household chores. Having a clear division of labor agreed upon beforehand makes it easier to decide whether to have a child.

Note

The goal isn’t to produce a perfectly accurate figure. Rather, it’s to ensure both partners discuss responsibilities using the same calculation framework prior to having a child, rather than arguing about it afterward.

For ages 0–3, most spending goes toward childcare arrangements — whether parents care for the child themselves, grandparents help out, or a professional is hired. During primary and middle school, the main expenses are housing and extracurricular activities. After that, costs center on further education pathways. Since spending patterns differ so much in each phase, lumping them together yields only an intimidating overall figure.

Cost

There’s no single fixed figure for total expenses; they vary widely depending on the city and the approach families take. The real challenge is to carefully separate the costs into these three periods instead of guessing a rough total.

Benefit

The bulk of expenses in the 0–3 age range relate to childcare methods; for compulsory education, housing and after‑school programs dominate; later on, costs shift toward higher‑level schooling. Because these categories are distinct, mixing them obscures the true financial picture.

Note

First, factor in any guaranteed financial support such as parental subsidies, maternity allowances, and yibao reimbursements; then determine what additional funds are still needed. Avoid basing decisions on widely circulated online estimates like “it costs X million to raise a child,” as their calculation methods are unclear and may omit or overstate certain items.

Others may expect you to have children, and that can certainly be one factor to consider. Yet the time and money involved are expenses you personally bear. “Relying on kids for old-age support” deserves its own separate calculation, since it hinges on another person’s financial capacity and willingness two decades down the line. Be sure to also write down the consequences of choosing not to have kids, so you can compare both sides fairly.

Cost

There’s no monetary cost — only the cost of having a sincere conversation. The real challenge is speaking openly about these topics without dodging them.

Benefit

The reasoning here mirrors that in Section 10. External expectations are valid considerations, but their associated costs must be recorded on your own ledger, not someone else’s. This is especially true for “relying on kids for old-age support,” which depends entirely on another individual’s future financial situation and willingness to help.

Note

Make sure to list both the consequences of having kids and those of not having them, then compare them side by side. Recording only one side of the equation doesn’t truly qualify as keeping accounts at all.

Female biological fecundability declines progressively with age; women in their early 40s have roughly half the monthly conception rate of women in their early 30s. Spontaneous miscarriage rates also rise, reaching about one-third of pregnancies between ages 40 and 44. In vitro fertilization (IVF) cannot fully overcome ovarian aging: at ages 43 to 44, only about 5% of embryo transfers result in a live birth.

Cost

Zero financial outlay; requires an honest, objective conversation between partners. The difficulty is integrating biological reproductive windows with career milestones, savings targets, and mortgage timelines rather than indefinitely postponing family planning.

Benefit

In natural fecundability, a prospective cohort study of women aged 30–44 without history of infertility demonstrated that compared to women aged 30–31, monthly conception probability was 53% lower at ages 40–41 (fecundability ratio 0.47, 95% CI: 0.28–0.78) and 59% lower at ages 42–44 (ratio 0.39, 95% CI: 0.16–0.93); at ages 38–39, conception was 30% lower (ratio 0.70, 95% CI: 0.48–1.01), while ages 32–33 showed no difference compared to 30–31. Nulligravid women had lower fecundability across all ages. In a Danish general population cohort, women aged 35–40 had a conception ratio of 0.77 compared to ages 20–24, whereas male age had a much smaller impact (ratio 0.95 at ages 35–39). In spontaneous pregnancy loss, a Norwegian nationwide registry study of ~420,000 pregnancies found the lowest miscarriage risk at ages 25–29 (9.8%), rising to 10.8% at 30–34, 16.7% at 35–39, 32.2% at 40–44, and 53.6% past age 45. In embryonic genetics, comprehensive chromosomal screening of 15,169 consecutive IVF trophectoderm biopsies revealed that embryonic aneuploidy rates rise steadily with maternal age past 26: while 2% to 6% of cycles between ages 26 and 37 produce all-aneuploid embryos, this jumps to 33% at age 42 and 53% at age 44. In assisted reproductive outcomes, preliminary UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA 2022) data showed live birth rates per fresh autologous embryo transfer of 35% for ages 18–34, 26% for 35–37, 18% for 38–39, 10% for 40–42, and 5% for 43–44. Regulatory and coverage context: Ministry of Health technical guidelines restrict assisted reproductive technologies to married couples complying with family planning regulations. The State Council mandated expanding public insurance coverage for eligible fertility treatments in 2024; by mid-2025, all 31 provincial administrative regions had incorporated assisted reproductive procedures into basic medical insurance reimbursement schedules.

Note

This analysis does not advocate any specific childbearing age, but presents empirical reproductive biological realities to weigh alongside financial costs (Chapter 18, Rule 5) and parental time investments (Chapter 18, Rule 4). Statistics represent population-wide averages; consult reproductive specialists for individualized ovarian reserve assessment (e.g. AMH and antral follicle counts). In mainland China, unmarried single women cannot legally access assisted reproductive technology. Medical insurance coverage scopes and co-pay caps for IVF vary by province; consult local healthcare security bureaus. Preconception preparations and folic acid supplementation are covered in Chapter 27, Rule 1.