China has raised the cost of condoms and other contraceptives as part of efforts to boost birth rates, but Beijing residents and analysts say the move is unlikely to have much effect.
From 1 January, consumers must pay a 13% value-added tax on contraceptives after exemptions were removed, while childcare and marriage brokerage services remain tax-free.
The policy comes as authorities try to reverse China’s declining birth rate, driven by an ageing population and record-low marriage levels.
Young people in Beijing said that taxing contraceptives does not address the deeper reasons preventing people from having children. A woman in her thirties, who gave her name only as Jessica, told AFP that pressures linked to jobs, daily life and social inequality were the real issues.
“People lack confidence in their future, so they may be unwilling to have children,” she said.
Xu Wanting, 33, said those who need contraceptives will continue to buy them, noting that they are also important for women’s reproductive health.
China’s population has fallen for three consecutive years and could shrink sharply by 2100, according to UN projections.
While leaders including President Xi Jinping have pledged to stabilise birth numbers, experts say the contraceptive tax is insignificant compared to the high cost of raising a child.
