Investigating Fertility Intentions for a Second Child in Contemporary China Based on User-Generated Content

China&rsquo
s two-child policy, aimed at boosting the country&rsquo
s total fertility rate, has failed to achieve the desired outcomes. Previous studies on low fertility rates mainly used data obtained from demographic censuses, questionnaires, or interviews. These data-gathering methods are costly, entailing time delays and yielding limited information. User-generated content (UGC) provides an alternative data source. We propose a machine&ndash
human hybrid approach using UGC obtained from social media to assess users&rsquo
intentions to have a second child. Our results showed that couples associate a second child with high economic costs mainly through negative impacts on the mothers&rsquo
careers, with no concomitant economic benefits. A key motivation for having two children relates to the mental benefit of the joy in having children. However, raising a second child also entails considerable mental costs such as exhaustion and pressure. Couples largely seek help within their extended families, that is, their parents are major sources of child-rearing support. Therefore, the government should devise ways of reducing the negative impacts of having a second child on a woman&rsquo
s career and provide child-rearing support to help increase the fertility rate. Our proposed approach can also be used to elicit the reasons for low fertility rates in other countries.