For years, there has been controversy over China’s one-child policy.
While it was created to help control rapid population growth, it has caused a massive imbalance in genders due to many female children being aborted before birth.
However, China’s government is now attempting to revise the decades-old law.
Under the new law, couples in which either the husband or the wife is an only child will be allowed to have a second child.
“I think it is a bad idea,” sophomore Hunter Cong said. “I think it will make the gap between the males and the females even worse.”
The change is heralded by the state-run Chinese media as a sign that the government is able to change to fit the wants and needs of the people.
However, no official date has been set for when the law is to be implemented.
In addition, the cost of having a second child would be too much of a financial burden on families, because China lacks many of the social safety nets that the United States has.
Sophomore exchange student Victoria Huang said “China is an aging country, so they need people to have more babies now.”
Not only is China’s need for new workers a problem, but the cost of living in China is too high for having a second child to be a viable option for many families, making the easing of the law a meaningless gesture.