[You Shuyun, 31-year-old mother]
" I want to provide him the best I can. It is not that we can't afford to have a second baby, it is more like I wouldn't have the time and energy to give them the company they deserve. I believe when it comes to having a child, it is not difficult to keep him alive, it is difficult to raise him well."
China's population declined in 2022 for the first time in six decades
despite the government rolling out incentives to encourage people to have more babies
China remains one of the most expensive places to raise a child
[Beijing resident]
"I don't think it solves anything fundamentally by allowing people to have a second child or even a third child. I think firstly, the cost to raise a child now is too high, from when they are little, to when they go to school, then when they look for a job in the future, get married and have their own children, the cost is too high. We currently don't have any plans to have a second child."
