Chinese parents reluctant to have second child, analysis says
A Foreign Policy analysis examines why China has one of the world's lowest birth rates. Couples averaged close to two children during the 1979-2015 one-child policy, but births did not rise after limits were eased to two in 2015 and three in 2021. China is the second-most expensive place to raise a child. The piece cites career costs for women, hospital bribery and a cesarean rate of 44.5 percent in 2020.