by YANGSHU Hongji

High childcare costs and persistent workplace pressures are shaping fertility choices in Shanghai, where officials and policy advisers are weighing new incentives to support working women amid a prolonged demographic slowdown.

The issue has come under discussion during Shanghai's 'two sessions', the annual meetings of the city's legislature and political advisory body, where policy priorities for the year ahead are set.

CHEN Juanling, a deputy to the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress and public affairs chief at cosmetics group Chando, submitted proposals aimed at easing workplace pressures on women of childbearing age.

Official data show Shanghai recorded 125,000 marriage registrations in 2025, up about 38.7% from a year earlier. Yet the average age at first marriage remained high – 30.3 for men and 29.1 for women – narrowing the effective window for childbearing. The figures reflect a familiar pattern in major Chinese cities, where stated intentions are recovering faster than actual fertility outcomes.

Shanghai has rolled out a range of family-support measures in recent years, but Chen said they have yet to materially change behavior. Intensifying competition and a culture of "involution" – long hours with diminishing returns – continue to squeeze young professionals' time and energy, while high costs in housing, childcare and education remain a deterrent.

Workplace pressures, she said, are central. Discrimination against women of childbearing age persists, with many fearing that having children would undermine career prospects or promotion opportunities. Such concerns are especially acute among highly educated professional women in large cities, contributing to delayed or foregone childbirth.

To lower economic barriers, Chen proposed tiered childbirth subsidies, including annual childcare payments during a child's first three years, with higher support for second and subsequent children. She also called for policy adjustments to make long-term settlement easier for families raising children locally.

Beyond cash support, Chen urged broader public provision of maternal and infant services, including more affordable postnatal and newborn care and greater insurance coverage. She also called for tougher enforcement against workplace discrimination, clearer penalties for implicit bias, and better access to legal aid, alongside training and job-matching support for women returning to work after childbirth.

Chen said that without a more coordinated approach – combining financial incentives with credible protections for women's careers – efforts to lift birth rates risk falling short, with implications for the city's long-term economic vitality.