Policymakers hope to ease the load on young families, close early education gaps and nudge birth rates up. But deeper structural pressures and societal expectations may prove harder to shift. SHENZHEN: When Zhao Xiaodou’s baby turned seven months old, the 32-year-old civil servant in Shandong was already scouting out preschool options. “My colleague asked me to apply to Golden Cradle kindergarten and offered a 1,000 yuan (US$140) voucher, but I still find it too expensive,” she said, referring