(Reuters) – The following are comments from Shanghai residents following the publication of a once-in-a-decade census in China that showed the population has grown at its slowest rate since the 1950s.
People are walking down Nanjing Pedestrian Road, a major shopping district, after the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China on May 10, 2021. REUTERS / Aly Song
Census GRAPHIC China 2020 – tmsnrt.rs/2Q9Dhpq
CHEN CHEN, 30, WHO IS 7 MONTHS PREGNANT:
“Real estate prices are high and young people are now under great financial pressure. In order for us to have a child, we need a certain financial basis, then we will think about it. For the past two years my funds were sufficient to support a child for years to come, and I was thinking about having that baby. As for the second child, I have to consider whether I have the energy. “
ZOU YUJIA, 37, MOTHER OF TWO CHILDREN:
“I think the population growth will decrease in the future. I am a mother of two children. Although I have answered our country’s call to have a second child, I really regret this decision.
“We are fine with our finances, but the biggest problem is that no one can help us with our children. Also, our children’s education is another problem. “
She added:
“Each child is now the king of their own family. But the health of my parents and grandparents is also a problem. You cannot help us any further with our children. We have our own jobs, we have to support the elderly and we have to raise the child. It’s too difficult for us. “
CAO ZHOU, 36:
“We have benefited greatly from the demographic dividend over the past few decades. Now that we’ve got to the point of an aging society, you’ll find that people over 60 or 65 are more like a type of debt than a dividend.
“In this situation it has become very important for young people to be more willing to have children or to make more contributions.”
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