Economics

Chinese Families Can Now Have Two Children, But Can They Afford Them?

  • Fertility levels already extraordinarily low in urban China
  • Most urban Chinese don't want two children due to 'huge costs'

Demographic Dilemma: China Pulls Plug on One-Child Policy

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For all the historic significance of China’s decision to abandon its one-child policy, the move risks falling well short of reversing a trend that threatens to throttle economic growth.

It’s “too little, too late,” said Shanghai-based Andy Xie, a former Morgan Stanley chief Asia economist, about the Communist Party’s approval of plans to allow all couples to have two children. “The population will begin to decline in 10 years. Why keep population planning?”