Fewer Beijing couples want second child: China survey

Fewer families in the Chinese capital desire to have a second child despite the implementation of the two-child policy, a recent survey said.
About 58.6 per cent of Beijing residents would like to have two children, down from 70.4 per cent in 2001, according to a survey on social opinion and belief for 2016-2017, published by the Beijing Social Psychological Work Committee over the weekend.
The survey shows that 72.6 per cent of Beijing residents have only one child. Around 10.8 per cent have two children.
The survey covered 2,430 people, state-run Beijing Youth Daily reported.
In a policy response to an ageing population, since 2016 Chinese couples have been allowed to have two children.

Concerns over finance, impact on parental careers, childcare and education option are the main reasons that families are hesitant to have a second child, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the survey as saying.

At the national level over 50 per cent of 17.58 million newborns in China last year were second children in the family, an increase of five per cent compared to 2016.
Numbers collected from hospitals showed 17.58 million new babies were born in China, the National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) said.
Figures provided by the NHFPC earlier showed that 18.5 million babies were born in hospital in 2016, the highest since 2000.

The birth rate last year was five per cent more than 2016.