SHANGHAI
Less than 5 percent of parents eligible to have a second child in the largest Chinese city of Shanghai have applied since the country eased its one-child policy last year, officials said Tuesday.
The change to the restriction allows couples to have a second child if either parent is an only child.
It was relaxed in a pilot program in east China's Zhejiang Province in Jan. 2014 and has since been expanded nationwide.
"Only 16,600 of Shanghai's 370,000 qualifying couples filed an application in 2014," said Fan Hua, an official with the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning, according to a report by China's state news agency Xinhua Tuesday.
"Two children are good for family stability and social development," Fan said, adding that there needs to be a national guideline before the one-child policy can be lifted.
Only 4.59 percent of eligible Shanghai couples applied, according to Xinhua.
The national average is 9 percent, corresponding to nearly 1 million of 11 million qualifying couples who applied for a second child in 2014.
"The high cost of raising a child, nursing and career pressure are behind the low interest," according to Zhu Ming, vice chairperson of the Shanghai Municipal Women's Federation.
It costs approximately 1 million Yuan ($162,970) on average in Shanghai to raise an infant until it turns 22, she said.
China's one-child policy was introduced in 1979 after its population grew more than 70 percent.
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