Cost of buying a bigger home is putting Chinese couples off having a second child, survey finds

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The country’s runaway home prices may be seriously hampering Beijing’s efforts to boost fertility and reverse an ageing population, the survey by Ke.com Research suggests

The problem is so serious, the government will have to introduce more stringent measures to rein in property prices, says a senior analyst

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A three-bedroom house in Beijing (pictured) would cost about 6.7 million yuan (US$1.02 million), beyond most couples who were surveyed. Photo: AFP

Pearl Liu

Published: 1:30pm, 25 Nov 2020Updated: 10:44pm, 25 Nov 2020

Buying a bigger home to raise more children is so expensive that parents in China are deciding against having a second baby, undermining government efforts to boost the population, according to a new survey.

More than a third of respondents in the survey by Ke.com Research said they are against having a second child, with nearly half of those citing the heavy economic burden as their major concern.

“Buying a home is just too expensive and we cannot afford a bigger one for having a second child,” was the reasoning offered by some 20 per cent of those who said they have no intention of having another child.

The problem is so serious, the government will have no choice but to introduce more stringent measures to rein in property prices, said one analyst.

The research unit of Beijing-based online property portal Ke Holdings quizzed 1,500 families across 179 Chinese cities for the survey.

In 2015, China scrapped the one-child policy that had been strictly enforced for more than 35 years, allowing every family to have two children amid a historically low birth rate. However, the country’s runaway home prices may be seriously hampering Beijing’s efforts to boost fertility and reverse the ageing population.