Poll: Most families wish to have two or more children

The Shanghai investigative team of the National Bureau of Statistics recently conducted a survey on 1,237 married residents aged 20-49 which showed that 58.3 percent of respondents would be happy to have more than two children if condition permits, according to the Office of Shanghai Chronicles.

Specifically, 55.6 percent of the respondents said it would be ideal to have two children, while 2.7 percent want three or more. About 40 percent of the respondents said they would have just one child while 1.7 percent do not plan to have any children.

The report found out that people who want to have more than two children are those with a higher education background. About 60.6 percent of the respondents with a bachelor's degree or above said that the ideal number of children is more than two, 5.1 percentage points higher than that of the respondents with a high school education or below.

Respondents with higher incomes were found to be more willing to have more children.

For families planning to have two or more children, 82.1 percent of the respondents think that raising more than one child would be more conducive to their children's growth and family happiness, while 44.4 percent of these respondents want to have both a girl and a boy.

The survey noted out that 72.4 percent of the respondents have one child while 17.2 percent have two or more children.

The survey also stated that cost and time are the main factors behind deciding whether to have more than two children. With regard to policies, the respondents were most interested in getting subsidies for childcare and maternity leave extensions.

The survey has been recorded in the Shanghai Almanac 2020.