“We were barely able to survive,” Li recalled. The then third-grader was forced to grow up overnight, taking on most of the housework and spending school holidays helping his mother at her stall. Now 25, Li says he has no plans to have children – a stance increasingly common for his generation and something that worries China’s government as it tries to avert a population crisis of its own making.
onsdag 6. august 2025
China used to fine couples for having too many babies. Now it can’t pay them enough
Zane Li was nine years old when he got a baby sister – and her arrival plunged the family in a small city in eastern China into crippling debt. Under China’s stringent one-child policy at the time, Li’s parents were fined 100,000 yuan (about $13,900) for having a second child – nearly three times their annual income from selling fish at the local market.
“We were barely able to survive,” Li recalled. The then third-grader was forced to grow up overnight, taking on most of the housework and spending school holidays helping his mother at her stall. Now 25, Li says he has no plans to have children – a stance increasingly common for his generation and something that worries China’s government as it tries to avert a population crisis of its own making.
“We were barely able to survive,” Li recalled. The then third-grader was forced to grow up overnight, taking on most of the housework and spending school holidays helping his mother at her stall. Now 25, Li says he has no plans to have children – a stance increasingly common for his generation and something that worries China’s government as it tries to avert a population crisis of its own making.
