It’s tough being precise in an imprecise language, especially where the media is concerned. Such was Xie Lingli’s lesson this past weekend when the Xinhua News Agency quoted her as saying Shanghai was going to be changing it’s One Child Policy. Of course, such a unilateral move on any city’s part in China would cause quite a stir in Beijing’s inner sanctum, where the One Child Policy is still considered a pillar – albeit an unpopular one – of society.

Time Magazine noted:

“Apparently reacting to numerous overseas media reports of a change in city birth-control regulations, which was portrayed as being the first sign of a reversal, Xie Lingli was quoted by the official Xinhua News Agency as saying that a citywide policy of allowing couples in which each partner is an only child to have two children had been in place for many years.”

Xie is director of the Shanghai Population and Family Planning Commission. Shanghai, in particular, believes its economy is suffering from a dearth of young people of working age that will help the city support its aging population. Under the One Child Policy, couples in which both partners are single-children are can legally have two children of their own.

The Guardian newspaper writes:

We just hope more people can have a second child because for Shanghai, as a city which started family planning quite early, the process of ageing is fast,” said Zhang Meixin of the Shanghai population and family planning commission. “If eligible couples have two children, it might help to relieve the pressure.”

I wrote about the issues young people in China are having dealing with a rapidly aging population in my post a few weeks ago, One For the Money, Two for the Show. The changing demographics are putting inexorable pressure on the offspring of the One Child Policy children in what is called in China the 1-2-4 problem: one child has two parents and four grandparents to support in Chinese society. Indeed, it is actually against the law in China to NOT support your parents.

However, the One Child Policy consistently arises as the single greatest contributor to the stress younger individuals and society at large have to bear as the Chinese grey. The Guardian writes:

Earlier this year the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies warned that China would have more than 438 million over-60s by 2050. Each would have just 1.6 working-age adults to support them, compared with 7.7 in 1975.”

Indeed, Time Magazine cites that the number of young people entering the workforce between the ages of 20 and 24 will drop by half in the next decade.

Global Voices follows a debate amongst Chinese netizens about the appropriateness of Shanghai – and Chinese cities in general – having amendments to the One Child Policy.

One Chinese writer commented:

“If we allow parents to have second children, then all the couples in the country should have this right. Why do they set up so many restrictions and rules for people around this country but Shanghai. My husband has a brother, but I’m the single child of my parents. We live and work far from home with our only son. We’re plaining to have another daughter!”

Others rail against Shanghai’s exceptionalism:

Why the privilege only belongs to Shanghai? Isn’t it a part of China? They already have the economic privilege and now they want to ask for birth privilege. I firmly protest the idea that we can relax the residence restriction because of the aging process.”

Of course, many parents in Shanghai are discovering what many in the post-industrial world have already discovered, which is contributing mightily to the reduction in their populations: kids ain’t cheap!