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Leopold Chen

Edith Lin

Hong Kong authorities have rolled out 11 new initiatives to encourage residents to have children, including an expanded cash bonus scheme and a reduced down payment for subsidised housing for parents with newborns.
In the latest policy address delivered on Wednesday, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced that the HK$20,000 (US$2,550) newborn bonus scheme, expiring on October 24, would be extended for another three years.
He added that the cash bonus for second and subsequent children would increase to HK$30,000, while the tax allowance for such children would also rise from HK$140,000 to HK$160,000.
“The current-term government has shifted from a non-interventionist approach to actively promoting fertility, working to create a conducive environment for childbearing,” he said.

SCMP · Hong Kong’s HK$30,000 bonus for second child among 11 new measures to boost births

A government source estimated that the incentives would reduce tax income by HK$15 million in the first year of implementation, while the amount would climb to HK$200 million in 26 years’ time, describing the impact as “manageable”.
Other measures include waiving stamp duties for families who buy properties from one year before to two years after childbirth, capped at HK$20,000, and raising the mortgage loan-to-value ratio for White Form family applicants – non-public housing residents – with newborns applying for subsidised flats under the Home Ownership Scheme (HOS) to 95 per cent to ease their down payment burden.
Hong Kong launched the HK$20,000 baby bonus in 2023 as a measure to drive fertility. Although the number of newborns rose to 35,723 in 2024, it fell to just more than 31,000 the following year. Only 19,255 infants were born in the first eight months of this year, nearly 10 per cent lower than in the same period in 2025.
Professor Michael Wong, chairman of the Hong Kong Future Economy Institute and an economics professor at the University of Hong Kong, said the lack of affordable housing was a critical problem for young families.
“Youth home ownership has declined dramatically over the last thirty years,” Wong said. “The government’s decision to help young households with children obtain a mortgage at a lower rate is a step in the right direction.”
But not all young families could benefit, as another source said only those with children no older than three years on the day of application were eligible for the 95 per cent mortgage rate.
A mother of two who asked to remain anonymous said her younger daughter would turn three years old next month, meaning the family would not be eligible if the next round of HOS flat sales happens after their girl’s birthday.
Renting a 200 sq ft home in Sham Shui Po, the woman and her husband were hesitant to buy a subsidised home despite hoping to provide a larger living space for their daughter and 11-year-old son.
The mother, who is in her thirties, added that the family had not benefited from the current HK$20,000 baby bonus because her daughter was born before the measure was introduced in the 2023 policy address.
The four-person household, which earns just over HK$20,000 a month, could not benefit from the tax perks either.
The couple was hesitant to have one more child despite the expanded bonus scheme.
“The HK$30,000 baby bonus is of little help. The parents have to bear the costs on their own in the long run,” the woman said.
She said relaunching the HK$2,500 non-means-tested student grant would be more helpful, as they paid HK$3,000 already on her son’s textbooks in the first term this year.
The mother, a part-time clerk, also hoped the government could provide childcare help so she could work full time to share her husband’s burden.
To improve upward housing mobility, Lee also said the government would relax the restriction period for the reselling of HOS flats sold between 2022 and 2025 from 15 to 10 years.
The city’s first five-year plan vowed to boost property ownership, as the government set out a housing supply planning basis for the coming decade, with 40 per cent of public rental homes, 30 per cent of subsidised sale flats and the remainder for private homes.
The housing minister told the media in 2024 that the ratio was 5:2:3.
Lee also announced in the policy address to improve the career prospects of young people. Starting from the first quarter of 2027, the government would collaborate with the business sector to roll out 10,000 full-time positions for young people newly entering the workforce over two years, with the government subsidising up to HK$6,000 of their monthly salaries.
There will also be 10,000 government-subsidised internships in the science, technology, engineering and maths sectors, also known as STEM, and another 10,000 on-the-job training places for construction industry professional graduates.
Fresh university graduate Derek Liao Ka-chung described the new initiatives as “incremental”.
“Even if I am allocated a HOS flat and my parents could make the down payment, I still have to repay the mortgage. But when consumer prices are so high in Hong Kong, I don’t know if I can even survive,” said the 23-year-old religious studies graduate from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
For Liao, who was still hunting for a job, employment was a more urgent issue than property ownership, adding that the 10,000 job positions would be less beneficial to arts faculty graduates like him.


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‘The current-term government has shifted from a non-interventionist approach to actively promoting fertility,’ city leader John Lee says


‘The current-term government has shifted from a non-interventionist approach to actively promoting fertility,’ city leader John Lee says.


Hong Kong’s HK$30,000 bonus for second child among 11 new measures to boost births

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}‘The current-term government has shifted from a non-interventionist approach to actively promoting fertility,’ city leader John Lee says

‘The current-term government has shifted from a non-interventionist approach to actively promoting fertility,’ city leader John Lee says