# China wants you to unwrap that rascal **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 2, 2026, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-wants-you-to-unwrap-that-rascal/1026265 "2026-01-02T04:10:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-wants-you-to-unwrap-that-rascal/1026265/1 "2026-01-02T04:10:14Z")
[And to encourage you to do the deed commando, there’s a balloon of a tax rate on the raincoat.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/china-condom-tax-sparks-backlash-023921727.html) > [@](#): > > China will begin charging a 13% value-added tax on contraceptives starting Jan. 1 while exempting childcare services from the same tax, a move authorities say is part of a broader effort to boost births as the country faces a sustained population decline, [according to the BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxpk7r8w9yo?at_bbc_team=editorial&utm_social_post_id=639212190&at_medium=social&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_campaign_type=owned&at_format=link&xtor=AL-71-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&at_link_type=web_link&at_link_id=D127C692-E69D-11F0-8DAA-F8563C44C59C&at_link_origin=BBCWorld&utm_social_handle_id=742143&at_ptr_name=twitter) and The Associated Press. > > The tax overhaul, announced late last year, removes exemptions that had been in place since 1994, when China was still enforcing its [decades-long one-child policy](https://www.foxnews.com/world/communist-country-dumps-decades-old-2-child-policy-birth-rates-plummet-alarming-levels). > > Alongside the new tax on contraceptives such as condoms and birth control pills, the [Chinese government](https://www.foxnews.com/category/world/world-regions/china) is exempting childcare, marriage-related services and elderly care from the value-added tax (VAT), the BBC reported. [Mind you, China still has a limit on the number of children people may have.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-child_policy). There are some exceptions as was the case with the previous family planning policies. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-wants-you-to-unwrap-that-rascal/1026265/2 "2026-01-02T08:36:22Z")
China went from a one-child limit to a two-child limit in 2016. It went from a two-child limit to a three child-limit in 2021. This means that any limit now has almost no effect on anything. The average number of children per family there is 1.15. The population of China is dropping, so India just passed it as the largest country in the world. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-wants-you-to-unwrap-that-rascal/1026265/3 "2026-01-02T08:51:50Z")
Pretty much. When the policy was changed to a 3-child policy, the Chinese social media sphere erupted with many people saying it wasn’t the policy that restricted them from having more children but the cost of raising children. That compounded the 4-2-1 problem. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/china-wants-you-to-unwrap-that-rascal/1026265/4 "2026-01-02T13:40:45Z")
Of course if condoms get more expensive, the main consequence will be explosion of STDs and unmarried pregnancies, not an increase in 2nd & 3rd cute little kidlets.