would hurt the children most and the parents hate to face that prospect. So the couple sticks together and winds up torturing each other.

"A real happy family is a family that, without children, is still a happy family, ?said Zhang.

Ma Jiang, who has opened a trading company and was instantly nicknamed Money Bags by his friends, said he would hate to be bothered with a child.

"To me, being without a child, I am less bound by household chores and can concentrate on my business. My lovely wife is all I need, no third person," he said.

Ma' s wife, Xiao Lu, working for a government unit, could have quit her job and become dependent on her "rich" husband. But she decided against it.

"I can' t imagine what I would be like if I stayed at home, doing household chores and breast-feeding a child. I' d rather keep my independence at all costs," she said.

"Whatever people say, I believe that to have a child means a lot of sacrifice. We're just not ready for that, fun or misery," Ma's wife said. Hou Mingkun and his wife Luo Qian said theyi weren't against having a child, boy or girl, if only the baby was physically well developed. "One takes a risk when having a baby. I've heard too many stories about children born with physical defects. Since-t-here's no guarantee that the same won't happen to my baby, I think I'd better not get myself

involved. People say `no pain, no gain,' but for me it's no gain, no pain," Luo said.

The couple were classmates in high school and went to the same university in Shanghai. Now, they are working for a computer company in Beijing.

Those who choose not to have children have to overcome some unexpected difficulties in defending their stance.

Influenced by the traditional view that one's worst sin is having no descendants, most people still accept that a wife is not a good wife if she doesn't have a child.

Though few Chinese believe in an after-life, they do care a lot about growing old. For centuries, one of the purposes of having children, sons especially, was to have someone take care of the parents when they were old.

"Now, since both husband and wife are working, they will have a pension when they retire. What happens now is that the retired parents are supporting their adult children," Wang said.

"We're normal people, just like everyone else, We,ve just chosen to live our own way which harms no one. I hope people understand us," Wang said.

2. Three Babies Are Born Every Second

There are over 3, 800 million people in the world today, and the total is increasing at the rate of .more than 76 million a year. United Nations experts have calculated that it could be more than 7, 000 million by thc end of this century.

The population is growing more quickly in some parts of the world than others. The continents with the fastest growth rates are Latin America (2.9 per cent) and Africa (2.6 per cent). Asia comes third (2.1 per cent) but because its present population is so large it is there that by far the greatest number of people will be added before the end of the century.

3. Population Increase Has Wiped out the Material

Benefits People Have Achieved

Matthew: Sarah, is there a need to control population only in countries

like India, Africa, Brazil. . . those countries that we.call the

underdeveloped countries, or is there a case for limiting population

in Europe, for

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