By Azam Tariq

China's decision to expand childcare subsidies to nearly 110 billion yuan in 2026 offers practical policy lessons for Pakistan as it seeks to ease the financial burden on low-income families, improve child welfare and enable greater participation of women in the workforce, experts say.

China's latest fiscal commitment reflects the scale of its approach to supporting young families. According to China's Ministry of Finance, the central government has allocated 99.9 billion yuan (about US$14.65 billion) for childcare subsidies in 2026. Together with provincial and local government contributions, total funding is expected to reach around 110 billion yuan as part of efforts to build a more childbirth-friendly welfare system.

Under the programme, families receive 3,600 yuan annually for each eligible child under the age of three. Parents can apply through digital platforms such as Alipay and WeChat as well as through offline channels. The initiative is expected to benefit more than 20 million families each year.

Experts believe the Chinese model demonstrates how targeted childcare support can complement broader social and economic policies by reducing financial pressure on families while helping more women remain economically active.

For Pakistan, the issue has growing policy relevance. According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, female labour force participation stood at 24.4% in 2024-25 under comparable estimates, while an estimated 25.1 million children aged 5-16 remain out of school, highlighting the need for stronger family support mechanisms.

Pakistan's fiscal constraints make a nationwide childcare subsidy programme difficult in the short term. However, experts say targeted support for vulnerable families, backed by stronger childcare services and institutional reforms, could improve child welfare, expand women's economic participation and contribute to long-term human capital development.

Speaking to Wealth Pakistan, Haroon Mazhar, Director of Orphan Care at Khubaib Foundation, described childcare subsidies as a transformative intervention for low-income households by helping families meet childcare costs while supporting children's education, nutrition and overall well-being.

He said such financial assistance should form part of a broader social protection framework incorporating early childhood development, vaccination programmes, school enrolment initiatives and child protection services.

Mazhar stressed that vulnerable groups—including orphans, children with disabilities, single-parent families and households living below the poverty line—should receive priority under any future childcare support programme.

He added that well-designed childcare subsidies should be viewed not merely as financial assistance but as a long-term investment in Pakistan's human capital.

Drawing lessons from China, Mazhar said childcare should be treated as a core public policy priority rather than a discretionary welfare measure.

He said China's coordinated financing model between central and local governments demonstrates how structured funding can improve service delivery. For Pakistan, he recommended a targeted approach focusing initially on deprived districts, working mothers, widowed households and children with special needs instead of launching an immediate universal programme.

Mazhar also underscored the importance of expanding affordable childcare centres in communities, workplaces, hospitals and educational institutions. Such facilities, he said, would improve access to childcare while creating employment opportunities and enabling more women to participate in the labour market.

Public health researcher Pavan Kumar told Wealth Pakistan that China's large-scale investment functions as a social safety net by reducing household childcare expenses and easing the unpaid care burden that disproportionately falls on women.

He noted that China's model combines predictable financial support for families with flexibility for regional governments to expand benefits according to local needs.

Kumar suggested Pakistan could adopt a similar approach through targeted child allowances or voucher-based support linked with health and education services.

He said combining financial assistance with expanded daycare facilities, parental leave policies and flexible work arrangements could help increase women's labour force participation while improving household incomes.

However, Kumar cautioned that financial assistance alone would not be sufficient.

He said meaningful results would require parallel investment in early childhood education and quality childcare services, noting that China's approach derives its strength from combining direct financial support with expanded service delivery to improve both affordability and accessibility.

Credit: INP-WealthPk