Anne Zhang

    zhangy49@gmail.com

    THE number of local families that applied to have a second child dropped month-on-month from its peak in May at 2,647 to 1,190 last month, according to the city’s health and family planning commission.

    Shenzhen adopted a policy March 27 allowing local couples to have two children if one of the parents is an only child.

    About 32,000 of 40,000 families that are qualified for the policy said they want to have a second child, according to a survey conducted in May. But only about 30 percent (or 11,636) of qualified families submitted their applications by Oct. 31, of which 10,561 applications have been approved, health officials said.

    The city saw a large number of applicants in the first two months after the policy was implemented. According to health officials, that is because some women were already pregnant with a second child before submitting their applications, adding that only some applicants were planning ahead.

    They added that based on their analysis, families are now becoming “more rational” when considering whether or not to have a second child.

    The health authority surveyed 6,108 applicants. Eighty percent of them are older than 30, of which 20 percent are above 35 years old.

    Some couples who weren’t willing to have a second child said the reason was the high cost of raising a child in a city like Shenzhen. They said they were worried that a second child would place an economic burden on them and downgrade their quality of life.