solarz
Brigadier
When should we expect the cost to drop? In any case, there's no guarantee of an increase.
Of course, the policy itself also limits the birth rate.
I think right now, most families are not limited by the policy; they are limited by their own abilities to take responsible care of these children. BUT just due to the sheer size of China's population, there are also many families that could afford to and would want to have 4 or more children if the policy did not limit them. So if the policy were lifted, the majority of the growth is expected to come from those families.
Considering that most of those families would be from poor rural areas, lifting the limit would just create more poverty.
China's birth rates are not the problem, the problem is the aging boomers and the burden they place on the post-80's. Having more babies now won't help with the problem and would only make it worse. The post-80's will just have to bear it, as this is literally the worst phase of the transition. Compared to what our parents had to go through though, this isn't even that bad.