A Chinese woman walks down the road with her 0.92nd child on her back. |
| |
| China’s about to have a miniature baby boom next year according to a China Daily article. In 1973 the Chinese government introduced its family planning policy, which allowed only one child per household, and dealt heavy fines on families that dared to break the rule. But most of the children born before that year are now of an age where if they’re not already married, they will be soon. And that means they’ll want to have a child. On top of that, in 1984 the Chinese government loosened the ban on multiple children a bit, allowing rural couples to have a second child if their first was a girl. Those kids are around marrying age, too. And a recent survey showed that 80% of couples that plan to have a baby would like to have both a boy and a girl, and 41 percent of couples living in urban areas whose first child is a girl want to have another one and hope it’s a boy. So, yeah, there’s potential for a lot of kids to be born next year. |
| |
| According to the China Daily article, Chinese families currently have an average of 1.8 children per household. I thought was kind of strange, so I contacted an old friend of mine who lives in Beijing, Wang Da Tou, and got her opinion of the numbers. Below are her comments. |
“Actually, I just gave birth to my 1.8th child back in July. At first, I was a bit uncomfortable because I’ve always enjoyed staring into my first child’s beautiful eyes, but since this child is a .8 child, I can’t do that. But I eventually became more comfortable with it and now look at it as a good thing. I’m just glad that he’ll never need glasses, he’ll never have allergies, and he’ll never need hearing aids, because he has no body above his shoulders. Feeding him is problematic since he has no mouth, so I’m a bit jealous of my neighbor, who has 1.92 children. But I’m thankful for what I do have…”
|
| |
| There you have it, the indomitable Chinese spirit! |
| |
| Link to article |
| |
