Given the little change in the birth rate after the easing of the family planning policy in 2013 to allow couples one (or both) of whom is the only child of his/her parents to have a second child, the call for allowing all couples to have two children has grown.

Generally speaking, the ideal childbearing age for women is between 20 and 35 years. But nowadays people get married late. As a result, women give birth to their first child late, making it difficult for them to have a second child.

Moreover, the sharply rising cost of raising children deters many young couples from having a second child. Official data show that in 2014, only 1.07 million of the 11 million couples eligible to have a second child applied to the authorities seeking permission to do so. And the actual increase in the new births was only 470,000.