To offset the ageing population problem, couples in the booming southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou have been encouraged to go for a second child against the official one-child norm.
BEIJING: To offset the ageing population problem, couples in the booming southern Chinese metropolis of Guangzhou have been encouraged to go for a second child against the official one-child norm.
Guangzhou has taken the lead in urging couples who are the only children of their families to have a second child.
Parents who are the only children of their families are being encouraged to have a second child in a major effort to balance the city's aging population.
"This is not a local policy, the encouragement we are giving conforms with the national family planning system," said Duan Jianhua, deputy director of the Population and Family Planning Committee in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province.
According to a policy issued by the National Population and Family Planning Commission in 2000, couples from one-child families in 27 provinces are allowed to have a second child.
"The policy aims to help reduce the pressure on younger members of society caused by ever-increasing aging populations," Duan said.
The report comes a day after a senior Chinese official said that the nation's one child per couple family planning policy had prevented 400 million births and helped the world's most populous nation to achieve faster socio-economic growth.
However, according to Duan, there are only a small number of couples in Guangzhou willing to have a second child, due to the increased financial burden.
At present, Guangzhou has more than a lakh married couples without children and 372,631 one-child families.
Meanwhile, the city's municipal government is considering to provide financial aid to the poor only-child families.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}