Single-child families in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province are being encouraged to
have a second child, in a move seen as a relaxation of the
country's "one child" policy.
The Guangzhou commission of population development and family
planning said it was seeking ways to tackle the problems caused by
the city's aging population.
By 2010, Guangzhou will be home to more than 1 million people
aged 60 or over, the commission has estimated. But its homes for
the elderly will be able to accommodate only 40,000.
There are currently some 945,000 people aged 60 and above,
accounting for almost 13 percent of Guangzhou's total
population.
The figure is much higher than the average across the country, a
source from the commission said.
And the aging population is set to keep growing at an annual
rate of about 4 percent, the source said, reaching 2.3 million in
2035.
The city government is currently working on a wide range of new
policies to cater to its elderly population, including a medical
insurance program.
According to the city's 11th Five-year development plan for
population, employment and social security, by 2010, Guangzhou will
have a population of more than 10.9 million, whose average life
span will be 78, the commission said.
While the new policy would allow couples to have a second child,
not all young people want a larger family.
Cui Lanfang, a white-collar worker, said she would not have a
second child because she had a bad experience with her first.
Both Cui, 32, and her husband, who are the parents of a
two-year-old daughter, are only children.
According to recent studies, less than 10 percent of young
married couples in Guangzhou have no children, with a majority
having a single child.
(China Daily July 5, 2007)