Scrapping¹ one-child policy should help China ease challenges of an aging society

取消独生子女政策可以有效地帮助中国缓解老龄化社会这一挑战

The scrapping of the one-child policy is expected to add more than 30 million people to China's working-age population by 2050, helping² the nation avoid a looming³ labor shortage, a senior family planning official has said.

近日，一位高级计划生育官员表示，取消独生子女政策将有助于在2050年增加超过3000万的劳动人口，从而帮助国家避免可能出现的劳动力短缺问题。

The number was revealed by Wang Pei'an, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, at a news conference on Jan 11 held by the State Council Information Office.

这一数字是国家卫生计生委副主任王培安在1月11日召开的国务院新闻办公室发布会上对外公布的。

The size of China's labor force aged 15 to 59, which has continued to dwindle⁴ since peaking at 940 million in 2012, is forecast to be 700 million in 2050, thanks to the two-child policy.

中国15岁至59岁的劳动力人口的规模，自从2012年的达到9亿4000万的峰值后，近年来持续下降。不过多亏了这项“二孩”政策，预计在2050年，这一数字将会达到7亿。

"There is an irreversible downward trend in the size of the working-age population, and the entire population, but the new two-child policy will help to slow the decrease," says Yuan Xin, an expert in population studies at Nankai University.

南开大学的人口研究专家袁辛表示：“在工作年龄人口和整体人口的规模上，我国将会遇到一个不可逆转的下降趋势，但新的二孩政策将有助于减缓这一下降的速度。”

The Chinese government late last year announced it was scrapping its one-child policy, which had been in place since the late 1970s, on Jan 1, and the new policy came into force. Leaders are also discussing other policies, such as delaying the retirement⁵ age and improving the quality of human resources, to help sustain a high-efficiency labor force.

中国政府去年年底宣布取消自上世纪70年代末就开始的独生子女政策，并且新政策于今年的1月1日正式生效。国家相关领导人还讨论了其他的政策，比如推迟退休年龄，提高人力资源的质量，以此来帮助维持高效率的劳动力。

According to Wang, the two-child policy also will help address challenges of the rapidly aging population. Without the policy, the number of people age 60 and older would make up 25.7 percent of the population by 2030. The policy is expected to lower that number by 2 percentage points.

王培安主任表示，二孩政策也将有助于解决人口迅速老龄化这一问题。如果不出台这项政策，到2030年，60岁以上的老人将会占据总人口的25.7%。该政策预计将会将这一数字降低2个百分点。

Beside, China's switch to a universal two-child policy has sparked a rise in sales of large three or four-bedroom homes in major mainland cities.

此外，全面二孩政策出台后，中国内地主要城市三居室或四居室的大户型房子销量大幅上升。

Many couples in cities like Beijing and Shanghai are making early preparations for bigger families by hunting for larger homes with a better environment. Those families say they need at least three bedrooms: One for the parents and the younger child, one for the elder sibling⁶ and the other for grandparents or a domestic helper.

北京和上海等许多大城市的很多夫妇，正在搜寻居住环境更佳的大房子，为家里添丁加口早做准备。这些家庭表示他们的最低需求是三居室。一间给自己和新生儿住，一间给第一个孩子，一间给父母或保姆。