Much ado about raising a second child

Five provinces and municipalities have implemented the new family planning policy since the Third Plenum of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee passed it in November, and more provinces and regions will put it into practice later.

Some people fear that the new family planning policy would cause a baby boom while others argue against such a possibility because many young couples are not eager to have a second child given the high cost of raising one. Irrespective of which group is right, the cost of raising a child has been exaggerated by social and traditional media.

Most of the online postings use extreme examples. In one well-viewed online list, for instance, the cost of raising a child in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen - the costliest three - is more than 2 million yuan ($329,200), and the cost in other first-tier cities is about 1.5 million yuan. But the fact is, first-tier cities don't represent the whole of China.