China Offering Money Incentive for Younger Marriages to Increase Birthrate

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It seems that a county in the eastern province of Zhejiang China(Changshan) is offering couples who marry while the bride is 25 years old or younger a cash reward of 1000 yuan (or $ 137 USD). This incentive, which is restricted to couples marrying for the first time, is part of various measures of experimentation by officials at multiple levels of government to increase the birthrate. This after the population declined last year for the first time in six decades. This area has also announced a number of subsidies to help parents with fertility, childcare, and education. Since 2021 couples have been allowed to have as many as three children. They are abolishing the "one-child policy" that prevailed from the late 1970s to 2016 to prevent the population from growing too quickly. The fertility rate of China hit a record low of 1.09 last year even with government efforts to bring it up. The countries with populations of over 100 million had the lowest number of children per woman. The lowest number of marriages since 1986 was at 6.8 million. Social media users criticize the cash reward and feel that the amount is a "drop in the bucket" compared to the high cost of raising a child in China's highly competitive society. While others say it discriminates against women by omitting any age requirement for men.