Less than 13% of Shanghai families are having a second child, a recent survey has revealed.
The survey, covering 19,314 women aged between 20 and 49 living across Shanghai's 16 districts, was released by the Shanghai Health Commission during a meeting of health experts, sociologists and demographers on Sunday.
Those surveyed cited the high cost of child-raising, education and housing as the three leading factors behind their decision to limit the size of their family.
Families with less than RMB100,000 annual income were shown to have the lowest desire for more children.
The figure compares to nearly one third of families having a second child in other provinces, where the costs associated with having a child are lower.
The revelation also comes in spite of updated government policy, which allows a couple to have up to three children.
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Zhou Haiwang, of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, called on more supportive policies to encourage couples to have more children.
Favorable welfare and insurance policies on employment and child-delivery should be introduced to reduce companies' burden in hiring female employees and protect women's legal rights, Zhou argued.
He also called on investment in housing and education, with more nurseries built to release families' burden of taking care of children.
[Image via Flickr]
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