Most people free to have more child

Most people free to have more child
By Guan Xiaofeng (China Daily)

Less than 40 percent of the population is restricted by the family planning policy to having one child, a senior official with the National Population and Family Planning Commission said yesterday.

While popularly referred to as the "one child policy", the rule actually restricts just 35.9 percent of the population to having one child, Yu Xuejun, a spokesman with the commission, said in a Webcast on the government's website (www.gov.cn).

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Except in Central China's Henan Province, couples can have two children if they are both only children, he said.

In addition, more than 11 percent of the population, mostly minority groups, is free to have two or more children, he said.

In many rural areas, couples are allowed to have a second child if their first is a girl (the so-called "one-and-a-half children policy"). This applies to 52.9 percent of the population. For lack of a social security system, people usually depend on sons to support them when they grow old...

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