China offers parents $500 a year in bid to boost births

Parents in China are being offered 3,600 yuan (£375; $500) a year for each of their children under the age of three in the government's first nationwide subsidy aimed at boosting birth rates.The country's birth rate has been falling even since the ruling Communist Party abolished its controversial one-child policy almost a decade ago.The handouts will help around 20 million families with the cost of raising…