Chinese Couple Gets Record Fine for Having a Second Child

A Chinese couple who managed to avoid authorities long enough to give birth to a second child were fined 1.3 million yuan ($204,000) after family-planning authorities deemed them "rich in assets," Townhall.com reports. The fine is the highest on record -- and the amount was compounded because the baby turned out to be a girl. According to the South China Morning Post, fines for violating China's one-child policy are equivalent to three to 10 times the average after-tax income of the city where the couple lives or the net income of rural residents, and parents with higher-than-average disposable incomes have to pay more. The high cost is meant to deter people from having more than one child, an official told a newspaper.