China is mulling financial incentives¹ to encourage couples to have a second child, as surveys show many are reluctant to expand their families due to economic constraints².

我国正在考虑通过财政刺激措施鼓励夫妇生育二孩，这是因为多项调查显示，我国许多夫妇因经济压力不愿增加家庭成员。

Wang Pei'an, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, revealed the potential move at a social welfare conference.

国家卫生计生委副主任王培安近日在一场社会保障工作会议上透露了这一潜在行动。

"To have a second child is the right of each family in China, but affordability³ has become a bottleneck⁴ that undermines the decision," Wang said.

王培安称，在中国，生二孩成为每个家庭的权利，然而"生得起，养不起"已成为动摇二孩生育决定的瓶颈问题。

To address that, Wang said, the government is considering introducing supporting measures including "birth rewards and subsidies⁵" to encourage people to have another child.

王培安表示，为了解决这一问题，政府正在考虑推出"育儿奖、育儿补贴"等配套措施，鼓励二孩生育。

It is the first time that the top population authority has suggested such a move to boost the birthrate, according to Yuan Xin, a professor at Nankai University in Tianjin.

天津南开大学的教授袁鑫称，这是卫计委首次提出通过此类举措提高生育率。

The Hunan provincial⁶ statistics authority also suggested in a recent report that the local government give subsidies to couples having a second baby to help reverse falling fertility rates.

湖南省统计机关也在近期的一份报告中建议，地方政府应该向生育二孩的夫妇提供补贴，从而帮助扭转下跌的生育率。

In some low-fertility countries like Japan, baby incentives such as cash subsidies, prolonged maternity⁷ leave, tax breaks, and child and healthcare benefits have been introduced by the government to boost the population.

在像日本这样的低生育国家，政府为了增加人口已经引入了现金补贴、延长产假、税收减免和孩子、医疗福利等婴儿激励措施。