Current Event 5: Will China's parents rush to have more Children?

October 30th 2015

Current unit of study: Unit 2

'Two is too much trouble': will China's parents rush to have children?

Synopsis

Next Chinese new year is the year of the Monkey - a symbolic time for Chinese families to have children, and now that the Chinese government has scrapped its "one-child policy," doctors are preparing themselves to face a busy year. China expects to have a baby boom now with its "two-child policy," with many families eager to have more than one child. But will it be long lived and will these young couples even be able to support two children? Wang Feng, a sociologist and demographic expert from the University of California says  no looking out to the long run. This is because Chinese couples have smaller families due to social and economic factors rather than the rules regarding conceiving. China's population is aging...and fast. If more children are birthed, this means a positive outcome for the country's development, but raising a child, especially in places like Beijing, can be expensive. And with an uncertainty in the job market, this so called "baby boom" may not last long. 

Analysis 

Because of China's "one-child" policy, the countries fertility rate has been quite low. But now, since China has very recently abandoned the policy, the country is expecting a baby boom. Couples are now allowed to conceive two children, which would in turn benefit the country very much. This is because of the limit put on children. Now, the majority of the population is elderly and with the new children being born, the country's development would be positively impacted. But the only problem is that this movement may not be sustainable for long. Raising two children in a city like Beijing can be very expensive. With social and economic factors impacting families (not to mention the pressing financial situation), the baby boom does not look like it will be sustainable in the long run.

Link to the original article:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/30/two-is-too-much-trouble-china-parents-rush-more-children