BABY BUST

China to Make Fertility Treatments Free as Birth Rate Plummets

Last year saw the country’s first population decline in over 60 years.

China will include fertility treatments in its national health insurance plan in an attempt to raise its plunging birth rate, according to the Chinese National Healthcare Security Administration. Under the new policy, coverage will include assisted reproductive technology techniques like in vitro fertilization, as well as analgesics to lessen the pain of childbirth. In cities like Shanghai, IVF can cost up to $5,000, and many Chinese women have cited financial concerns and a desire to prioritize their careers as reasons for choosing not to have children. China is making reproduction a central priority after the country’s population fell by 850,000 to 1.411 billion last year, the first drop in 60 years. Birth rates in China have been falling for decades, exacerbated by a decades-old “one child policy” that was only reversed in 2015.