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Leopold Chen

Hong Kong does not need to emulate Singapore’s generous childbirth incentives, a senior official has said, defending the city’s latest 11-measure policy drive to encourage births as a “comprehensive” approach.
Addressing concerns that Hong Kong’s approach was too incremental compared with Singapore’s multi-tier sustained funding, Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk Wing-hing said on Tuesday that each jurisdiction has its own unique set of circumstances.
“Some people ask, ‘Why don’t you learn from Singapore by pledging a HK$400,000 [US$50,984] package?’” he told a radio show.
“We approach the matter in different ways and I think it is appropriate for us to launch the current 11 measures.”
Cheuk also rejected suggestions that Hong Kong’s package was “pretending to be generous at the expense of others.”
“What we put forward is a fairly comprehensive package. So if people feel they have short-term cash flow issues, there are measures for that,” he said. “If it is about housing or making things easier at any stage of raising a baby, this is also where we can help.”

In 2025, Hong Kong’s fertility rate stood at 0.733 – or 733 live births per 1,000 women – making it one of the lowest in the world. By comparison, Singapore’s rate was 0.87.
In his latest annual policy address, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced a raft of measures to encourage childbirth.
Among them, a one-off HK$20,000 baby bonus was extended for another three years, while the incentive for a second or subsequent child was raised to HK$30,000.
The annual tax allowance tied to a second or subsequent child was raised from HK$140,000 to HK$160,000.
On the housing front, “white form” applicants – non-public housing residents buying subsidised sale flats – with newborns will only need to pay 5 per cent of the total property price as the down payment.
Lee also pledged to enhance nursery capacity to relieve parental pressure.
Under Singapore’s new package, which shifts from one-off birth incentives to sustained funding, each newborn will receive almost S$70,000 (US$54,874) – equal to more than HK$430,000 – in direct financial support from birth until the age of 17, starting from April 1, 2027.
This includes a S$10,000 baby gift and S$2,000 in “child credits” from ages one to 16.
The government also heavily subsidises their early education, healthcare and post-secondary education expenses.
Cheuk also defended the focus on second and subsequent children, citing last year’s figures showing 43 per cent of Hong Kong births were second children.
He noted that many households wanted multiple children, arguing that existing parents who had already addressed basic needs such as housing were better positioned to expand their families.
Cheuk admitted that workplace family-friendly measures, such as longer maternity leave and a flexible family leave system that would be launched for civil servants, could offer more incentives than financial drivers alone.
“But if you’re talking about citywide measures, that involves a lot of other stakeholders such as employers and it is a very complex issue,” he said. “We first launched what we can do now, and will do more where we can.”
The Hong Kong government moved away from a non-interventionist stance in 2023, introducing a HK$20,000 baby bonus to encourage childbirth.
Although the number of newborns rose to 35,723 in 2024, it fell to just over 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.
The government would review the effectiveness of the package two years after its implementation.


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A couple with their child in Central. Hong Kong has rolled out 11 measures to boost the city's flagging birth rate. Photo: Karma Lo

Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk speaks during a press conference on Hong Kong’s first five-year plan and policy address initiatives. Photo: Sun Yeung

Parents and their child at the West Kowloon Cultural District promenade. Hong Kong’s fertility rate stood at 0.733 in 2025, among the lowest in the world. Photo: Elson Li

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

Only 19,255 children were born in the first eight months of 2026. Photo: Karma Lo

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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

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Hong Kong

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Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk says 11-measure policy drive is ‘comprehensive’ approach tailored to local needs


Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk says 11-measure policy drive is ‘comprehensive’ approach tailored to local needs.


China

Singapore

No need for Hong Kong to match Singapore’s HK$400,000 birth perk, top official says

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk says 11-measure policy drive is ‘comprehensive’ approach tailored to local needs

Deputy Chief Secretary Warner Cheuk says 11-measure policy drive is ‘comprehensive’ approach tailored to local needs