The gradual breed of new generation Chinese families face challenges with raising a second child.
For decades now the average urban Chinese couple could only have one child. Thus families over the years got used to the idea that one child is the only child. However the recent relaxation of the single child policy in China has brought about some uneasiness. The new generation Chinese families are set to face challenges with raising a second child.
With birth restrictions being relaxed and a new generation of two-child families emerging in Chinese society, parents are coping with a whole new set of methods.
Mental health therapist, Mei Qixia said, “the Chinese parents face some particular difficulties as the societal norms so far said that the first child is the only child. Children have always received 100 percent of their parent’s love and attention.”
The family planning policy was introduced in China in the late 1970s to curb the increasing population in the country. It restricted urban Chinese couples from having more than one child.
The policy was then relaxed in 2011, according to the norm, couples were allowed to have a second child only when both the parents were the only child to their parents. The policy further loosened its noose in November 2013 which stated that only one of the parents must be the only child.
Thus, the policy reform has now led to more and more Chinese couples having two children. While having more than one kid is an extremely common reality for parents across the world, Chinese parents are slowly easing into this new way of life. There are an increasing number of informal groups and therapists paving the way for this change.
Photo Credits: Huffington
