China population: 3 million foreign nannies could boost births by 200,000, save families US$30 billion
- Report by YuWa Population Research encourages China to allow foreign nannies as they could reduce costs for a family by 60 per cent
- Chinese mothers gave birth to 10.62 million babies last year, an 11.5 per cent drop from 12 million in 2020
Relaxing rules to allow foreign nannies could boost China’s ailing birth rate by as many as 200,000 a year, and save families as much 200 billion yuan (US$31.6 billion), according to a report published on Wednesday.
With the minimum salary for a domestic helper in Hong Kong set at HK$4,630 (US$593.40) per month, hiring a foreign nanny could cut expenses for a Chinese family by 60 per cent. The average salary for a nanny in big Chinese cities 10,000 yuan (US$1,578.48) per month.
The money saved could then help raise China’s birth rate by two percentage points and could motivate Chinese parents to give birth to 200,000 more children every year, the report by YuWa Population Research said.
The report cited data from the Hong Kong government that in 2019 the city, with a population of 7.5 million, had nearly 400,000 foreign domestic helpers, with the vast majority from the Philippines and Indonesia. According to the Hong Kong government, that figure fell to 373,884 last year.
“If three million foreign nannies are hired in the mainland, these families could save a total of more than 200 billion yuan each year,” the report said.
