Macau, China, April 14, 2025 (Lusa) - The leader of Macau's government announced on Monday the creation of a subsidy totalling almost €6,000 for children up to the age of 3, to help boost the country's birth rate, currently the lowest in the world.
Sam Hou Fai said that the childcare subsidy will be given to each child with permanent resident status in the Chinese region who has not yet reached the age of 3.
At the presentation of the first Government Action Guidelines for 2025, the head of the government, who took office on 20 December, said that parents would receive 1,500 patacas (€165) per month, up to a total of 54,000 patacas (€5,939).
Sam Hou Fai also announced an increase in the birth allowance, from the current 5,418 patacas (€596) to 6,500 patacas (€715), and the marriage allowance, from 2,122 patacas (€233) to 2,220 patacas (€244).
The aim of these measures, said the government leader, is to "strengthen economic support for families with newborns and encourage the birth rate", which he pointed out as one of Macau's main problems, along with the ageing population.
Sam Hou Fai also promised more and better crèches, "to reduce the pressure on families of working couples with dependent children", and to offer ‘limited services’ of medically assisted procreation free of charge.
In addition, the head of the government announced the start of a study into increasing the number of days of annual leave. For 40 years, Macau's permanent residents have been entitled to just six paid days of annual rest.
The change in labour laws will also look at increasing the number of days of maternity leave in the private sector, currently set at 70 days, Sam Hou Fai told MPs from the Legislative Assembly, the local parliament.
Macau recorded only 0.58 births per woman in 2024, the lowest fertility rate since the Statistics and Census Bureau began compiling these figures in 2000, and a long way from the figure needed to replace generations (2.1).
The birth rate is even lower than the estimate made in a report released in July by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA): 0.68 births per woman.
Although more optimistic, the UNDESA estimate already indicated that Macau would have had the lowest fertility rate in the world in 2024, a long way behind the second jurisdiction on the list, Singapore, with 0.95 births per woman.
Official figures show that there were 3,607 births in Macau last year, the lowest number for almost two decades.
At the end of January, the deputy director of Macau's Health Services, Kuok Cheong U, predicted that there should be fewer than 3,500 births in the region by 2025, which would be the lowest number since 2004.
VQ/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
