二孩時代:解決勞動力短缺 催熱大房銷售

Scrapping one-child policy should help China ease challenges of an aging society

取消獨生子女政策可以有效地幫助中國緩解老齡化社會這一挑戰

The scrapping of the one-child policy is expected to add more than 30 million people to China's working-age population by 2050, helping the nation avoid a looming labor shortage, a senior family planning official has said.

近日，一位高級計劃生育官員表示，取消獨生子女政策將有助於在2050年增加超過3000萬的勞動人口，從而幫助國家避免可能出現的勞動力短缺問題。

The number was revealed by Wang Pei'an, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, at a news conference on Jan 11 held by the State Council Information Office.

這一數字是國家衛生計生委副主任王培安在1月11日召開的國務院新聞辦公室發佈會上對外公佈的。

The size of China's labor force aged 15 to 59, which has continued to dwindle since peaking at 940 million in 2012, is forecast to be 700 million in 2050, thanks to the two-child policy.

中國15歲至59歲的勞動力人口的規模，自從2012年的達到9億4000萬的峯值後，近年來持續下降。不過多虧了這項“二孩”政策，預計在2050年，這一數字將會達到7億。

"There is an irreversible downward trend in the size of the working-age population, and the entire population, but the new two-child policy will help to slow the decrease," says Yuan Xin, an expert in population studies at Nankai University.

南開大學的人口研究專家袁辛表示：“在工作年齡人口和整體人口的規模上，我國將會遇到一個不可逆轉的下降趨勢，但新的二孩政策將有助於減緩這一下降的速度。”

The Chinese government late last year announced it was scrapping its one-child policy, which had been in place since the late 1970s, on Jan 1, and the new policy came into force. Leaders are also discussing other policies, such as delaying the retirement age and improving the quality of human resources, to help sustain a high-efficiency labor force.

中國政府去年年底宣佈取消自上世紀70年代末就開始的獨生子女政策，並且新政策於今年的1月1日正式生效。國家相關領導人還討論了其他的政策，比如推遲退休年齡，提高人力資源的質量，以此來幫助維持高效率的勞動力。

According to Wang, the two-child policy also will help address challenges of the rapidly aging population. Without the policy, the number of people age 60 and older would make up 25.7 percent of the population by 2030. The policy is expected to lower that number by 2 percentage points.

王培安主任表示，二孩政策也將有助於解決人口迅速老齡化這一問題。如果不出臺這項政策，到2030年，60歲以上的老人將會佔據總人口的25.7%。該政策預計將會將這一數字降低2個百分點。

Beside, China's switch to a universal two-child policy has sparked a rise in sales of large three or four-bedroom homes in major mainland cities.

此外，全面二孩政策出臺後，中國內地主要城市三居室或四居室的大戶型房子銷量大幅上升。

Many couples in cities like Beijing and Shanghai are making early preparations for bigger families by hunting for larger homes with a better environment. Those families say they need at least three bedrooms: One for the parents and the younger child, one for the elder sibling and the other for grandparents or a domestic helper.

北京和上海等許多大城市的很多夫婦，正在搜尋居住環境更佳的大房子，爲家裏添丁加口早做準備。這些家庭表示他們的最低需求是三居室。一間給自己和新生兒住，一間給第一個孩子，一間給父母或保姆。