Central Childcare Subsidy Funds Revealed for 31 Provinces: Guangdong, Henan, and Sichuan Rank Top Three

China implemented a childcare allowance system for the first time last year. For infants and toddlers under the age of 3, a monthly subsidy of RMB 300 is provided from the government; of this fiscal funding, about 90% comes from the central government. In addition, the central government’s childcare allowance support funds received by 31 provinces last year were disclosed to the public for the first time.

Recently, the Ministry of Finance released the 2026 central government budget. In the “Table by Region for Certain Transfer Payment Projects” (hereinafter referred to as the “Table”), the central government first disclosed the scale of childcare allowance support funds provided last year to 31 provinces, as well as the budget amounts for this year.

According to the aforementioned Table, the total scale of central government childcare allowance support funds in 2025 was RMB 90.358 billion. Guangdong received RMB 9.058 billion, the highest among all provinces. Henan received RMB 7.281 billion, ranking second, while Sichuan received RMB 6.84 billion, ranking third. Shandong received RMB 5.569 billion, ranking fourth.

The central government childcare allowance support funds received by Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Hunan, and Yunnan were between RMB 4.0 billion and RMB 5.0 billion. The scale of these funds received by Anhui, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, and Hubei was between RMB 3.0 billion and RMB 4.0 billion. For the remaining localities, the scale was below RMB 3.0 billion (see the table below for details).

The table above is from the Ministry of Finance.

The size of the central government childcare allowance support funds that each locality receives mainly depends on two major factors: first, the number of infants and toddlers under 3 years old who meet the subsidy payment standards; second, the subsidy standard of the central government.

Generally speaking, the larger the population of infants and toddlers under 3, the larger the scale of central government childcare allowance funds they receive. For example, Guangdong is China’s largest province by population and has been the top province for first births for seven consecutive years. In 2024, the number of births in Guangdong reached 1.13 million, the only province in China with more than one million births.

In addition, the “Implementation Plan for the Childcare Allowance System” states that the central government will fund the childcare allowance required to provide the national basic standard, and will subsidize the eastern, central, and western regions in proportion. Some experts believe that the central government’s assumed subsidy ratio may follow the eastern, central, and western regions at 85%, 90%, and 95% respectively. Therefore, the higher the share of central government subsidy a province receives, the larger the scale of central government childcare allowance funds it will receive.

Of course, local governments also need to bear part of the childcare allowance funding. According to data previously released by the Ministry of Finance, overall, the central government accounts for about 90% and local governments about 10%. For local governments’ 10% share, the division ratio among provinces, cities, and counties is determined based on local circumstances.

According to the above Table released by the Ministry of Finance, the 2026 budget for childcare allowance support funds is RMB 99.93 billion. This amount has been allocated to regions of RMB 84.39 billion, while RMB 15.54 billion has not yet been allocated to regions. This is because the remaining funds will be determined and allocated based on the application situation for childcare allowances in 2026.

From the distribution of RMB 84.39 billion of childcare allowance support funds that has already been allocated to the 31 provinces in 2026, Guangdong, Henan, and Sichuan still remain the top three in terms of the scale of funding received.

The Table lists the performance targets for the 2026 childcare allowance support funds: the actual payment rate of childcare allowances for eligible applicants is ≥90%; the frequency of childcare allowance payments is ≥1 time per quarter; the national basic standard for childcare allowances is RMB 3,600 per person per year; the policy awareness rate is ≥90%; promoting the reduction of family childcare and education costs and building a childbearing-friendly society; and the satisfaction of childcare allowance recipients is ≥90%.

The 2026 childcare allowance has been fully opened for applications. On March 7, at the press conference on people’s livelihood topics for the Fourth Session of the 14th National People’s Congress, Lei Haichao, the chairperson of the National Health Commission, said that as of now, childcare allowances have been issued to more than 33 million infants and toddlers, and that the central and local governments’ investment in childcare allowances has exceeded RMB 100 billion.

(This article comes from Yicai)