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William Yiu

Twenty Hong Kong couples have each received baby bonuses totalling HK$60,000 (US$7,700) for having three children in about 2½ years.
Yet less than 60 per cent of the HK$2.28 billion earmarked for the three-year government scheme has been disbursed as of February, with just over six months to go before it ends in October.
Government figures showed the city’s registered birth rate in the first two months of this year dropped by 20 per cent compared with the same period in 2025.
A youth group leader said the decline reflected the growing view among young people that having babies was a source of stress and sacrifice rather than hope and joy.
Only HK$1.31 billion, or 57.5 per cent, of the HK$2.28 billion allocated for the baby bonus scheme had been used as of February, with the three-year scheme set to end this October, according to the Labour and Welfare Bureau.
The scheme, which launched in October 2023, provides a one-off HK$20,000 bonus to eligible parents for newborns. The baby must be born in Hong Kong and at least one parent must be a permanent resident at the time of application.
Since the scheme’s inception, 66,259 babies have qualified for the bonus.
The government said that it disbursed the bonus three times to about 20 bank accounts since the scheme was launched, meaning 20 couples had three newborns in just two years and four months.
“According to the Treasury’s records, the Treasury disbursed the newborn baby bonus twice and three times to about 1,820 bank accounts and about 20 bank accounts respectively between October 25, 2023, and February 28, 2026,” it said.
It also means another 1,820 couples received HK$40,000 each for having two babies over the same period.
The scheme was introduced after the city recorded a shrinking number of births, with only 32,500 babies born in 2022, a record low at the time.
When seeking funding approval in early 2024, authorities predicted the scheme could boost the number of births by 20 per cent, from about 32,500 in 2022 to around 39,000 a year.
Yet 2025 saw only 31,100 births, breaking the previous record low and falling short of government expectations by 20 per cent.

The bureau said authorities were conducting a detailed review of the scheme, involving data analysis and in-depth examination and consideration of the relevant issues.
In the first two months of the year, 4,787 births were registered with the Immigration Department, marking a 21 per cent drop from the same period in 2025.
Under Hong Kong law, parents must register their child to obtain a birth certificate, typically within two months of the birth.
The drop this year was even steeper than the 19 per cent decline in 2020, the year following the 2019 social unrest.
Christa Cheung Shuk-fung, supervisor of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, told a seminar on ageing, migration, and fertility last week that young people today faced a lack of time, support and certainty alongside long-standing pressures such as high living costs, child-rearing expenses, education and even climate risks.
“They are not just asking, ‘Can I afford a child?’ They are asking, ‘Will the world my child enters be safe and fair, and is it worth the sacrifice?’” she said.
Last year, her group released a study surveying 1,100 Hong Kong youths aged 13 to 29. It found that only 38 per cent of respondents expressed interest in having children, while 31 per cent said they did not want any at all.
According to similar studies, the percentage of youth with no interest in having children stood at 15 per cent in Japan and the United States, about 12 per cent in Germany, and 8.9 per cent in France.
She noted that financial concerns were the top reason respondents gave.
“Many of those who worry about finances actually have stable incomes. Their fear is about job security and the future,” Cheung said.
“They mentioned that with the rapid changes in AI development and potential economic downturns, they worry that if they lose their jobs, they won’t be able to support a family.”

Another major reason was fears of exhaustion from an ultra-competitive education system.
She said some young people were put off by the competition for spots in kindergartens, primary and secondary schools and universities, as well as the endless extracurricular classes, which many experienced when they were growing up.
“For them, parenthood does not feel like a joy; they think it is an endless risk-management project. Having a child has become a source of sacrifice and stress,” she said.
“Some interviewees said, ‘I can currently afford two trips to Japan a year and can go out every Friday night. Why should I give that up for a future that feels so uncertain?’”
Stuart Gietel-Basten, a professor of social science and public policy at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said the baby bonus scheme should not be scrapped and that the subsidy’s rationale should be couched differently.
He said the government should frame the subsidy as easing the burden of raising a child, rather than resolving the shrinking population problem.
The second-lowest birth number in 2022 has led to the closure of 29 kindergartens.
The Education Bureau announced the number of Kindergarten One pupils in 2025-26 dropped by 7 per cent, with most of the babies born in 2022 entering preschool this academic year.
Only 34,454 toddlers are now in K1, a stark contrast with the peak in 2015 when there were 65,323 pupils.
Among the 29 kindergartens that have closed, the Eastern district – one of the most ageing areas in Hong Kong – was the hardest hit, with six preschools shutting down by the end of 2024-25.


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Hong Kong society

20 Hong Kong couples get triple baby bonus of HK$60,000 each but disbursement lags

The scheme, which launched in October 2023, provides a one-off HK$20,000 bonus to eligible parents for newborns. Photo: Jelly Tse

The scheme was introduced after the number of births in Hong Kong dropped to an all-time low of 32,500 in 2022. Photo: Sun Yeung

Young people increasingly view having children as a source of stress and sacrifice rather than of hope and joy, according to one youth group leader. Photo: Jelly Tse

Should Hong Kong’s baby bonus scheme include talent to boost birth rate?

The one-off cash allowance of HK$20,000 has been distributed to 48,984 applicants as of the end of June. Photo: Nora Tam

Extending the bonus scheme may encourage more couples to have children, an economist says. Photo: Edmond So

Hong Kong to consider giving baby bonuses to talent scheme parents

A race for toddlers is held at the 8th Children’s Book Fair & Super Parents & Kids Expo at Asia World Expo. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong’s welfare minister has said more than HK$900 million in baby bonuses have been given out to encourage childbearing since 2023. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Hong Kong gives out HK$35 million in baby bonuses, but experts say raising birth rate requires policy rethink on marriage, IVF

Hong Kong authorities have approved 16,000 baby bonus applications for HK$20,000 handouts since last October. Photo: Jelly Tse

The city first recorded a negative natural population growth in 2020, with its total fertility rate dropping to 701 live births per 1,000 women in 2022. Photo: Jelly Tse

News

Hong Kong

Education

Only HK$1.31 billion or 57.5 per cent of HK$2.28 billion allocated for baby bonus scheme used as of February, with three-year scheme set to end this October


Only HK$1.31 billion or 57.5 per cent of HK$2.28 billion allocated for baby bonus scheme used as of February, with three-year scheme set to end this October.


Ageing society

Hong Kong population

Education in Hong Kong

China

20 Hong Kong couples get triple baby bonus of HK$60,000 each but disbursement lags

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Only HK$1.31 billion or 57.5 per cent of HK$2.28 billion allocated for baby bonus scheme used as of February, with three-year scheme set to end this October

Only HK$1.31 billion or 57.5 per cent of HK$2.28 billion allocated for baby bonus scheme used as of February, with three-year scheme set to end this October