Students seek a higher degree of love

New approach urged

As China rolls out a series of supportive measures to encourage births and facilitate the implementation of the third-child policy, experts said that it is essential for new measures to tackle the concerns of both genders.

"In addition to lowering the costs of marriage and raising children, which primarily affect men, we should also respond to the career aspirations of women through measures such as improving nursery care," Li said.

"It is pointless to try to force young people to get married and have children. The rest of society needs to be patient and try to understand their views."

Yu Jia, an associate professor at Peking University's Center for Social Research who was not involved in the study, said it will take time for young people to adapt to the third-child policy.

In late 2015, China allowed all couples to have two children, after operating the strict family planning policy for more than three decades. The third-child policy was introduced in May last year.

The Renmin University report showed that less than 2 percent of those surveyed were interested in having three or more children.

"The speed with which China has shifted family planning regulations has been rapid. Many young people have probably never seen a family with three children, and they do not view it as a viable choice at all," Yu said.

"But as they age, their perspective will likely change and may lean toward having more children if appropriate policies are in place to foster such a trend."