Nation moves to avert demographic time bomb

Housing, tuition

"For couples in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, housing is also a big concern," he said.

"Having a second child means they have to move to a bigger house, but property prices are extremely high now."

Yang Dan, who lives in Panjin, Liaoning province, works as an assistant manager at an agricultural research institute. Her husband is a local government official.

The couple spends about 4,000 yuan ($636) a month on their 5-year-old son, including kindergarten fees and four extracurricular classes－drawing, dancing, handicraft and an intelligence-development class.

The outlay accounts for almost one-third of their combined monthly salaries of more than 12,000 yuan.

"In the past, having one more child didn't raise the family's expenditure too much, but things are different nowadays because you have to provide the best possible conditions for your child," Yang Dan said.

The couple doesn't employ a nanny, but that would be essential if they decided to have a second child.

The only other option would be for Yang Dan to quit her job and become a full-time mother. Either way, the cost would be high.

"Although Panjin is not a big city, finding a nanny would not be easy. One of my friends told me she spends more than 10,000 yuan a month on her daughter and the family nanny," she said.

Meanwhile Liu Xu, who works for a State-owned enterprise in Beijing, has also rejected the idea of having a second child.

"There is no room in our house for another kid, and property prices in the capital mean we don't have enough money to buy a bigger house," he said.

Liu has a 5-year-old boy and his family of three lives in a one-bedroom apartment.

He has enrolled the boy in three classes outside of school－English, painting and mathematics－which costs about 60,000 yuan a year, more than 30 percent of his annual income, he said.

"Many parents I know, people who are not rich, have enrolled their child in at least one expensive class," he said.

However having a child is expensive even before the parents get the newborn home.

Yang Dan's son was born prematurely at a hospital in Shenyang, the provincial capital, and the procedure cost the couple more than 130,000 yuan.

She said she would stay at a hospital in Shenyang again if she had a second child because establishments in the city have better facilities and more-skillful doctors.

Although it is difficult to find a bed in a top public hospital in Shenyang, it's easy to find one in a high-end private hospital, but the cost would be high, she added.