From policy expansion to hesitation: Young people’s fertility responses to China’s Three-Child Policy in urban and suburban Beijing
China’s fertility policies have shifted from restriction to encouragement, yet fertility decline has continued even after the 2021 Three-Child Policy and the roll-out of supportive measures. This creates a policy implementation problem. Relaxing birth limits has not been accompanied by sufficient and consistently accessible support to bring forth change in young adults’ fertility decisions. This study thus draws on semi-structured interviews with 15 young adults residing in Beijing’s urban core and suburban areas, all aged between 22 and 35 years. The aim is to examine how young adults interpret the Three-Child Policy and the related measures in terms of feasibility. This is because there is an existing gap, as previous studies focus on measuring fertility intentions without a proper focus on the interpretation of state fertility policies by young adults themselves. It was found that participants consider the Three-Child Policy to be permission rather than support. They cite uneven access to affordable childcare, adequate housing space, and enforceable workplace protections as the major constraints that hinder feasibility. Moreover, urban-core interviewees foreground high housing costs and limited living space, while the suburban participants emphasize long commutes and inefficient local services that increase time and care burdens. These interpretations are associated with postponement, conditional openness, or decisions to limit family size to one or two children. This study shows that policy expansion alone cannot change fertility behavior if there is not enough credible and accessible support available, which is usable for everyday life. Overall, the study offers a citizen-centered explanation for why policy expansion may produce limited behavioral change when implementation is experienced as slow, uneven, or inaccessible.
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