Shanghai is a prosperous city, but there are many deep-seated reasons behind it about reproductive choice. The pressure of house price, bride price, life pressure and birth cost is like a mountain, which makes people breathless. This paper will explore the reasons behind Shanghainese's choice not to have children from the aspects of education level, concept difference, life pressure and competitive pressure.

The improvement of education level

The improvement of education level makes people more independent. People begin to pay more attention to personal growth and experience, and are unwilling to invest too much time and energy in the next generation. This "selfishness" is not a derogatory term, but people's pursuit and respect for self-worth.

Differences in thought

Late marriage has become the norm of a new generation, who pay more attention to the quality of personal life and spiritual pursuit. The traditional concept of parenting is no longer the mainstream, and people are more willing to pursue personal growth and happiness.

The competitive pressure is enormous.

As an economically developed city, Shanghai is under great competitive pressure. Many people work hard in the workplace, and a little negligence may lose their ideal job. For women, having children after marriage is a great challenge. During maternity leave, a person's position may be replaced by others, and if this person is better than himself and does better than himself, he may face greater competitive pressure after returning to the workplace.

rice is as precious as pearls and firewood as costly as cassia―exorbitantly high cost of living

In Shanghai, housing prices, education and medical care are all relatively high. If you can't guarantee your living standard, even if you have children, you can't provide them with a good growth environment. Therefore, it is more important for Shanghainese to give birth to a child and try to give them a good living environment.