英语新闻丨Travel agency employees offered 1bn yuan in baby bonuses

China's leading online travel agency Trip.com Group announced on Friday that it plans to provide 1 billion yuan ($137.74 million) in subsidies to support employees who choose to have more children. As the first Chinese company to introduce such a policy, which conforms with national efforts to encourage childbirth, it has sparked heated discussion among the public about the cost of raising children and the impact on women's careers.中国领先的在线旅行社携程集团6月30日宣布，计划投入10亿元来补贴生育多孩的员工。携程是国内第一家推出这种生育补贴政策的公司，这与当前国家鼓励生育的举措是一致的。携程此举引发了公众关于育儿成本以及生孩子对妇女事业影响的激烈讨论。Starting from July 1, both male and female employees who have worked at the company for three years or more will be eligible to receive an annual cash bonus of 10,000 yuan ($1,377) per year for each newborn until the child reaches the age of five, the company said.携程宣布，从7月1日开始，入职满3年的携程员工，无论性别，每新生育一个孩子都将获得每年1万元的现金补贴，发放至孩子满5周岁后终止。"Employees are the greatest asset of the company and we are committed to creating a better and more supportive working environment for them," said James Liang, executive chairman of the board of Trip.com Group.携程集团的董事局主席梁建章表示，员工是企业最宝贵的财富，我们致力于为员工创造一个更好的工作环境，为员工提供更大的支持。"Through the introduction of this new child care benefit, we aim to provide financial support that will encourage our employees to start or grow their families without compromising on their professional goals and achievements," said Liang, who is also a demographic economist.作为人口经济学家，梁建章还指出，通过推出新育儿福利，旨在为员工生育提供经济支持，让他们不会因生育而牺牲自己的职业目标与成就。In 2022, China recorded 9.56 million newborns, and the birthrate was 0.68 percent. It was the first time since 1950 that the annual population of newborns dropped below 10 million, and the third consecutive year the birthrate had dropped below 1 percent, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.国家统计局数据显示，2022年，中国出生人口数量为956万，出生率为6.8‰。这是1950年以来，年出生人口首次跌破1000万，也是连续第三年出生率跌破1%。The high cost of raising a child has become an important factor that is affecting fertility rates. In China, the average cost of raising a child to the age of 18 is 485,000 yuan, equivalent to 6.9 times the annual per capita GDP, according to YuWa Population Research, a public welfare institution dedicated to population and related public policy research in China.育儿成本高已经成为影响生育率的一个重要因素。育娲人口研究智库的数据显示，在中国，把孩子养到18岁的平均成本是48.5万元，相当于全年人均国内生产总值的6.9倍。育娲人口研究智库是致力于中国人口和相关公共政策研究的公益机构。The cost of raising a child in China is higher than that in some developed Western countries, the institution said, adding the population of newborns in China declined for six consecutive years from 2017 to 2022.该机构称，中国的育儿成本高于某些西方发达国家的水平，并指出中国出生人口数量从2017年到2022年已连续下跌6年。Liang believes that family welfare policies such as inclusive child care services, equal maternity leave for men and women, protection of the rights of single-parent families, and open access to assisted reproductive technologies, can effectively help working women reduce the time and cost of parenting and achieve a win-win situation for both the family and employers.梁建章认为，包括托幼一体化服务、男女平等产假制度、保障单亲家庭权益、开放辅助生育技术在内的家庭福利政策能有效帮助职场女性减少育儿时间和成本，让家庭和雇主达到共赢。The baby bonuses have sparked an intense online debate. Many women said that getting pregnant affects their opportunities to get promoted and advance their careers. Some companies prefer that female employees don't get pregnant, as it shortens their working time. Other netizens said the subsidies fall well short of covering the huge cost of bearing and raising a child.携程的生育补贴引发了网上的激烈讨论。许多女性表示，怀孕让她们失去了晋升和职业发展的机会。有些公司更希望女员工不要怀孕，因为这样会缩短她们的工作时长。其他网友表示，携程的补贴金额相比巨大的生育成本只是杯水车薪。Over the past few years, Trip.com has implemented a number of pro-family policies. A hybrid-working scheme has been introduced, which allows employees to opt to work remotely on certain days of the week. The policy has been applied in 14 countries and regions.过去几年来，携程已经推出了一系列对家庭友好的政策。携程的混合办公制度允许员工在每周的某几天远程办公。这一政策已在14个国家和地区的携程办事处实行。Bonus英/ˈbəʊnəs/ 美/ˈboʊnəs/n.奖金，津贴Child英/tʃaɪld/ 美/tʃaɪld/n.儿童