Various markets agog with childlike cheer

Even as married couples ponder China's third-child policy, forecasts of sales sizzle.
 
China's policy to allow all married couples to have a third child, announced on May 31 with a view to offset any possible effects of an aging population on both the economy and society, has elicited mixed responses from people.


 
Financial considerations and work-related pressures appear to be weighing on the minds of most married couples in urban areas, dissuading them from going in for a second or third child.
 
Raising children is too much of an ask, in terms of the time, energy and money required, some couples said.
 
Yet, among all age groups, many well-off young Chinese, especially parents born in the 1990s, have shown a relatively strong willingness to have three children, a recent report found.
 
Most of them are single-child families－and they long for a sibling or two for their only child, and think having multiple kids in the family is the way toward happiness.
 
In terms of income, those with an annual family income ranging from 800,000 yuan ($123,024) to 2 million yuan indicated the highest willingness to have a third child, according to a poll conducted by the China Index Academy, China's largest independent property research organization.
 
The third-child policy was announced three weeks after China released its latest census, which showed the country's population was growing at its slowest rate in decades.
 
In late July, the State Council Information Office held a news conference and gave further explanations about the third-child policy. Authorities have promised cheaper child-rearing and education options as part of the measures to facilitate the implementation of the policy.
 
By 2025, a comprehensive support system will be established to "significantly reduce" child-rearing costs. The National Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic regulator, said it is working with other departments to build a "fertility-friendly society".
 
The move is a major bid to reverse the country's falling birthrate and turn around an aging population in the world's most populous nation, industry mavens said.