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Is China’s two-child policy good news or another dilemma?


To ease the country's ageing problem, China has further relaxed its more than three-decade family planning policy, and started carrying out the two-child policy for all couples in the country, allowing each couple to have two children.

为应对人口老龄化问题,中国自去年10月进一步放开实施了30多年的计划生育政策,开始在全国范围内推行"全面二孩政策",即允许全面实施一对夫妇可生育两个孩子政策。

Let's make a quick review of how the universal two-child policy was released. 

我们不妨回顾一下二胎政策的逐步开放轨迹:

– In November, 2011, the country implemented two-child fertility policy for couples where both are from a single-child family.

2011年11月,中国各地全面实施双独二孩政策;

– In December, 2013, the country implemented selective two-child policy, namely two-child fertility policy for couples where either the husband or the wife is from a single-child family.

2013年12月,中国实施单独二孩政策; 

– In October, 2015, the country decided to implement the universal two-child policy, as from January 1, 2016. 

2015年10月,中国政府决定从2016年1月1日起实施全面二孩政策。

Note that, two-child is not equivalent to a second pregnancy. The couple whose firstborns are twins, triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets, or pigeon pair are not eligible for the two-child policy.

有一个概念需要注意:"二孩"不等于"二胎"!如果第一胎生的是双胞胎、三胞胎、四胞胎、五胞胎、龙凤胎,那么就不符合这个二孩政策了。

The universal two-child policy has provoked heated discussions on Chinese social media since its announcement. Millions of comments can be roughly divided into two sides: some people are so excited to prepare themselves for a second child, while the others say that they won't have a second baby no matter what happens, as it's too costly to raise children nowadays.

这一政策自宣布以来一度在中国社交媒体上引起了潮水般的讨论。在数以万计的评论中,一些人兴奋表示准备要第二胎,另外一些人则表示,不管发生什么事,都不会再要小孩了——生养小孩太昂贵。

Here are some comments on Weibo, Chinese Twitter. 

以下是微博上网友们的一些评论:

A net user called 'Happy mom' said that: "Great, the universal two-child policy is finally confirmed. It may take some time to put it into practice, but we really see the hope in it. Rest assured that those Chinese mothers can have a second child without paying the penalty (200,000 yuan)."

一位自称是"幸福快乐的宝妈"写道:"太好了,终于全面放开二胎了!估计真正实施起来还需要些时日,但是我们看到了希望!之前还在担心二孩会罚款20万的妈妈们现在可以放心备二胎啦!"

"Great! I add a vote to the policy. My husband and I have been longing for a second baby all the time. But we didn't fulfill the requirements previously as both of us are not from a single-child family." a net user 'Moer' said.

"这个政策太好了!一直想再生一个,但我和丈夫都不是独生子女,之前没有资格生二胎。" 网友"莫儿"写道。

In contrast, some other netizens are more cautious. A Weibo user called 'Feixue' commented that "It seems too early for me to consider having a second child, but the thing won't happen to me. A lot of Chinese families have been under a heavy burden to raise and educate their single baby, let alone a second child. Why not give the only child a better life with limited resources?"

相比之下,另外一些人则更为谨慎。微博用户"飞雪"写道:"关于二胎,虽然离我还有点远,但是我是不会生的,现在很多家庭一个娃都养不起了,养两个不被拖死?不如一个好好培养。"

For those past the childbearing age, the policy comes too late. 

对于那些已经过了生育年龄的人来说,二胎政策来得太迟了。

"Two kids? Thanks but no. I've been 50 years old now!!" said a net user called 'Your neighbor Aunty Wong'.

"二孩?谢了,不必。我今年已经50岁了!!" 网友"隔壁家的王阿姨"表示。

Furthermore, some people referred that some aged couples lost their only child because of diseases or accidents but they were incapable of conceiving any longer when the universal two-child policy came out. "The universal two-child policy can be good news for these couples who are still fertile, but it may become a sore spot for those loss-of-single-child families."

也有人提到,一些独生子女因疾病或意外去世后,他们的父母年纪太大,已经不能再生育一个孩子了。"二胎政策对于还能赶上生育末班车的夫妻来说可能是个好消息,但对于那些过了生育年龄的失独家庭而言,就会成为心头的伤痛啊!"

Undoubtedly, the event also drew much attention from the foreign media. The following is a brief report on Chinese universal two-child policy from Wall Street Journal.

此等大事,自然也引来不少外媒关注。以下是《华尔街日报》上关于"全面二胎" 的一篇简短报道。

China Abandons One-Child Policy

"Limit on families is raised to two children, ending a 35-year-old policy that led to myriad social and economic ills in China.

BEIJING—China will abandon its one-child policy, perhaps the most notorious of the Communist Party's intrusions into Chinese lives, amid a looming demographic crunch that threatens the long-term health of the world's second-largest economy.

All Chinese couples will be allowed to have two children, Chinese official media said, showing Beijing isn't ready to totally relinquish its grip on the homes and bedrooms of its people. Demographers also warn that the move may be too little too late, as China already faces a declining, graying population without the workers it needs for its vast economy.

Still, the move is symbolically significant and amounts to an acknowledgment of the social and demographic problems the 35-year-old policy has created. "This is a historic moment signaling the complete end of the one-child policy," said Wang Feng, a demographer at Fudan University in Shanghai."

From the author's point of view, the government has not completely abandoned family planning policy yet, it only allows a family to bear two children instead of single child, merely increasing the number by one. The restrictions are still there. More than three-decade one-child policy proves hard to undo for China.

在外媒作者的眼里,中国的生育政策并不是完全开放了,而是将之前只允许一个家庭生一个的政策改为了允许一个家庭生两个,这仍然是限制。并且,对于中国而言,持续30多年的独生子女政策的弊端将很难消减。

Here is another report on the policy from BBC.

以下是来自BBC的相关报道:

The 'model' example of China's one-child policy

This week, China's Communist Party Central Committee has been holding a highly secretive meeting to draw up the country's next "Five Year Plan" and in a surprise announcement, has replaced the one-child policy, with a universal two child policy.


Old habits die hard though.


Even a two child policy will continue to act as a major drag on population growth and as with previous relaxations to the rules, one-child families have become the social norm.


Many of the couples already eligible, perhaps as many as 90% or so, have chosen not to take advantage of the opportunity for a second child.


And of course, while the enforcement fervour may be nothing like it once was in places like Rudong, for those women who want more than two, the Communist Party's brutal control over their bodies and their fertility will remain unchecked.



Concerning the policy, the Guardian also aired its opinions as below.

针对中国的全面二孩政策,英国《卫报》也发表观点:

The one-child policy changed China for ever with its cruelty

"After more than 30 years of a sometimes brutally enforced one-child policy, Chinese society is changed for ever. A falling tally of workers and rising number of pensioners has brought into increasingly sharp focus a nagging anxiety: will China get old before it gets rich? A country that does not welcome immigration is facing a long-term demographic problem.

But China may have waited too long to lift a rule long overtaken by economic and social change. This new decree – which allows married couples two children – is only a small adjustment to a 2013 policy relaxation that already permitted couples two children if one parent was an only child. Remarkably few eligible couples took up the offer, and the reasons are not hard to find."

Apparently, Chinese universal two-child policy has aroused so many controversies. Which side do you take?

看来,中国的"全面二孩政策"已经引来不少争议。你支持哪一方呢?

The article is translated and editted by Chinlingo. Please indicate the source for any use, reproduction or transfer. 

本文由Chinlingo编译后发布,如需转载,请标明来源。


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2016-06-22

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