China’s Baby Boom Plan Goes Bust

Chinese couples are failing to take advantage of the country's newly loosened one-child policy. An official at China's National Health and Family Planning Commission expected 2 million additional births a year, only 700,000 couples have applied to have a second child. Last year, China allowed couples in which both parents do not have siblings to apply to have a second child. China's one-child policy is one of its most controversial and has often been skirted by well-connected, wealthier citizens. However, economic concerns may have led couples not to apply for a second baby. "Because of concerns over child-bearing and child-raising costs, or other career-related considerations, many young couples are not in a hurry to have children," said Zhao Yanpei.