Double the pleasure?

Double the pleasure?

Recent relaxation of China’s official “one-child policy” gives new hope to couples who desire a larger family. 

Under the former policy, this noble pair might have felt free to procreate as they wished; poor, rural, or just average folks, however, lacked that luxury. For parents who did manage to have two children, the state typically has refused to recognize that second child, denying him or her access to education, jobs, housing, or official status of any kind. 

Intended as a way to invigorate China’s slowing economy, the eased restrictions have thrilled many would-be parents. Still, experts say the shift in policy may backfire, given couples’ reluctance to double their child-rearing expenses.        —Diane Richard, writer, November 3

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Photo credit: Adam Dean for The New York Times

Source: Chris Buckley, “China Ends One-Child Policy, Allowing Families Two Children,” The New York Times, October 29, 2015