China may double the number of kids families can have

By Bob Bryan

The decades-old policy restricting many Chinese families to a single child may soon change.

On Wednesday, The South China Morning Post reported that a story in the mainland, Chinese-language China Business News pointed to multiple government sources that seem to indicate that the policy will be relaxed by the end of the year.

According to The South China Morning Post, families may be allowed to have 2 children as soon as this year.

The policy was enacted in 1980 by the government as a way to curb the exploding population growth in the country.

In recent years, the policy has been relaxed to allow some families to have a second child when the first-born is a girl or both parents are only children. According to The South China Morning Post, in 2014 15.5% of Chinese citizens were over 60 compared to 13.3% in 2011.

An aging population is thought to put pressure on an economy, though some studies have found that may not be true.