A decreasing number of Chinese couples have applied to obtain a permit for a second child as reflected by the data presented by the National Health and Family Planning Commission on Wednesday.

In accordance with the report, roughly 700,000 Chinese couples applied for a second-child permit as of the latter part of August. Among these couples, 620,000 were granted the permit. According to the agency, the couples comprised partners in which one of them grew up as the sole child in their respective families. The number of applicants based on this recent data had been considerably lesser that those previously recorded by the authorities. This number provided an estimate of 2 million annual birth rate increase following the change in policy.

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The policy, which had been changed in November, allowed more than 11 million Chinese couples to become eligible to conceive a second child. The policy change permitted couples to have a second baby as long as one of the parents is the sole child in his or her family. In contrast, the previous policy required both partners to be the only children in their families to become eligible for a second child.

At present, only Xinjiang Uygur and Tibet autonomous regions are the remaining provinces to refuse the implementation of the reformed policy.

The decreased number of applications for a second child serves as an indicator that the perception of Chinese parents on reproduction has already changed, according to Lu Jiehua.

Lu, a demography professor at Peking University, also observed that this perception is more prevalent among urban parents with high educational level. Moreover, he pointed out that majority of the couples affected by the change in policy are residing the urban areas.

With respect to the influences affecting the decision-making process of some couples, having a second baby becomes an economic concern.

According to Lu, the recent change in policy intends to resolve the problems arising from an aging demographic and issues pertaining to workable labor source. However, he pointed out that the analysis and research done prior to the implementation of this change failed to match the reality.

For instance, 30-year-old Liu Yulin and his wife are in the process of determining whether they could afford another child. "My first is a boy. I don't think I can afford to have another boy, for whom I have to buy housing," explained Liu.

Tagsone child, second baby, National Health and Family Planning