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| China seems set to relax its curbs on family size but will parents respond? |
China's moves to combat an ageing population by relaxing decades-old curbs on family size have hit an unexpected snag: many parents are no longer interested in having more babies.
The
government has indicated it will scrap its policy which limits the number of
children per family through tough fines -- and sometimes through forced
abortions and sterilisations.
The world's
most populous country introduced its one-child policy in 1979 and last tweaked
it in early 2016, raising the limit to two children as the nation scrambled to
rejuvenate a greying population of some 1.4 billion.
But the
pent-up demand for more children has ebbed, experts say. Couples have
increasingly delayed having even one child as they devote more time to other
goals, such as building their careers.
The
skyrocketing cost of raising children in booming China has also given many
prospective parents pause.
"Lots
of people want to have a second child, but the biggest problem is the financial
burden," said a mother in the northeastern city of Dalian, who wants a
second and even third child but remains hesitant to bear the financial and
career costs.
The
proposed policy change was included in a new civil code being discussed by the
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress this week. The code is set
to be completed in 2020.
"Cancelling
the family planning policy would mean that the right to decide how many
children to have rests with couples and families," said Liu Hongyan of the
China Population and Development Research Centre, a think tank under the
National Health and Family Planning Commission.
This is
"a manifestation of human rights in the field of reproductive
health".
Population trends
The
official Xinhua news agency said regulations on family size were omitted from the
draft law due to "changes in the country's demographic situation".
China's working-age population fell by 5.5 million last year, maintaining a downward trend that began in 2012, according to the statistics bureau.
 |
| High
education and other costs are deterring some Chinese families from having extra children |
China's working-age population fell by 5.5 million last year, maintaining a downward trend that began in 2012, according to the statistics bureau.
Economists
fear the nation will get old before it gets rich, leaving it trapped as a
middle-income country burdened with too few workers to support an ageing
populace.
By 2050,
the World Bank forecasts the proportion of the population aged over 60 will
jump from 15 percent in 2015 to 36.5 percent, with a median age of 49.6.
To lesson
the pain, Beijing wants its "high-quality" citizens to build larger
families, experts say.
There is
"heavy propaganda aimed at urban educated Han women" urging them to
"marry early and have children early," said Leta Hong Fincher, author
of "Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China",
referring to the majority Han community.
From the
government's perspective, Qiu Chunjuan and Xu Jinhua, who are raising two
children in Shanghai, would be ideal candidates for a larger family. But the
parents are not considering it.
"With
the education environment in Shanghai, the economic enviroment, having two is
just right," said the father, Xu.
"We're
saturated now," he said. His wife Qiu said that with the cost of private
school and additional classes, the pressure was already "quite big".
Hu Yanhua,
a 38-year-old mother in Shanghai, said she had her hands full with just one
six-year-old boy.
"I
need to work and I have limited energy, so I probably won't consider it,"
she said.
Second
child boom?
When
Beijing lifted restrictions and allowed all couples a second child, officials
were expecting a flood of new births.
They
received a trickle, enough to steady the falling birth count, with 17.23
million births in 2017 -- but well below an official forecast of over 20
million for the year.
Surveys
have shown many one-child families harbour little desire for more children.
The
white-collar mother in Dalian, who asked not to be named, worried she would
fall behind in the workplace if she took time off to have a second child.
"I
don't want to give up my job and the feeling of self-worth it brings," she
said.
Related Article:
Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”
The world average fertility rate, in average live births per woman, from 1950 to 2017, according to figures published in the Lancet medical journal pic.twitter.com/S0TIkjZJQr— AFP news agency (@AFP) November 12, 2018
Related Article:
"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)
“… 3 - Longer Life is Going to Happen, But…
Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?
The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].
Here is one that is a review. We keep bringing it up because Humans don't believe it. If you're going to start living longer, there are those who are frightened that there will be overpopulation. You've seen the way it is so far, and the geometric progression of mathematics is absolute and you cannot change it. So if you look at the population of the earth and how much it has shifted in the last two decades, it's frightening to you. What would change that progression?
The answer is simple, but requires a change in thinking. The answer is a civilization on the planet who understands a new survival scenario. Instead of a basic population who has been told to have a lot of children to enhance the race [old survival], they begin to understand the logic of a new scenario. The Akashic wisdom of the ages will start to creep in with a basic survival scenario shift. Not every single woman will look at herself and say, "The clock is ticking," but instead can say, "I have been a mother 14 times in a row. I'm going to sit this one out." It's a woman who understands that there is no loss or guilt in this, and actually feels that the new survival attribute is to keep the family small or not at all! Also, as we have said before, even those who are currently ignorant of population control will figure out what is causing babies to be born [Kryon joke].
Part of the new Africa will be education and healing, and eventually a zero population growth, just like some of the first-world nations currently have. Those who are currently tied to a spiritual doctrine will actually have that doctrine changed (watch for it) regarding Human birth. Then they will be able to make free choice that is appropriate even within the establishment of organized religion. You see, things are going to change where common sense will say, "Perhaps it would help the planet if I didn't have children or perhaps just one child." Then the obvious, "Perhaps I can exist economically better and be wiser with just one. It will help the one!" Watch for these changes. For those of you who are steeped in the tradition of the doctrines and would say that sounds outrageously impossible, I give you the new coming pope [Kryon smile]. For those of you who feel that uncontrolled procreation is inevitable, I encourage you to see statistics you haven't seen or didn't care to look at yet about what first-world countries have already accomplished on their own, without any mandates. It's already happening. That was number three.….”
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