January 22, 2024
HONG KONG – The Legislative Council Finance Committee approved a HK$2.29 billion ($293 million) appropriation fund on Friday, enabling parents to receive a HK$20,000 bonus for each newborn starting late February at the earliest.
The cash bonus, proposed by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in the latest policy address, is part of a policy that aims to boost the city’s fertility rate.
Hong Kong’s birthrate is extremely low, at 0.8 births per woman, said the deputy chief secretary for administration
Seventy lawmakers attended Friday’s meeting of the finance committee, 67 of whom voted in favor of the grant.
The policy allows parents – at least one of whom must be a permanent resident, who have had newborn babies in Hong Kong since Oct 25, 2023 — to apply for a HK$20,000 bonus for each child within six calendar months of the day of their birth. The initiative will last three years.
As long as the information provided in the application is correct, the bonus will normally be granted within two to three weeks.
During the committee’s deliberation on the grant, Cheuk Wing-hing, deputy chief secretary for administration, said at Friday’s meeting that Hong Kong’s birthrate is extremely low, at 0.8 births per woman, and he believes that offering the bonus shows the government’s resolve to boost the birthrate.
Lawmakers Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee and Kingsley Wong Kwok said they are concerned whether Hong Kong permanent residents are eligible to receive the bonus if they give birth to babies on their way back to Hong Kong or when they are travelling outside the city.
Cheuk said the money will be granted on a case-by-case basis and the authorities will take into consideration various exceptional circumstances.