Showing posts with label One Child Policy. Show all posts
Dec 28, 2015
China officially abandons its One Child Policy by passing law
China has officially abandoned its One Child Policy amid deepening demographic crisis of shrinking workforce and aging population in the world’s second largest economy.
The new law allows couples to have two children from January 1, 2016 and marks the ending its over three decades old One Child Policy.
What is One Child Policy?
- The one-child policy, instituted in the late 1970s, restricted most couples to only a single offspring and for years authorities argued that it was a key contributor to China’s economic boom and had prevented 400 million births.
- Its main aim was to rein in population growth in order to alleviate social, economic and environmental problems in China.
- It has been enforced by a dedicated national commission with a system of fines for violators and often forced abortions, leading to heartrending tales of loss for would-be parents.
Outcome of the Policy
- The policy led to sex-selective abortions or infanticide targeting girls, because of a centuries-old social preference for boys.
- As a result China’s population — the world’s largest at 1.37 billion — is now ageing rapidly, gender imbalances are severe, and its workforce is shrinking.
Oct 30, 2015
China to abolish decades-old one-child policy
world most populous country has announced to abandon its three decades-long one-child policy and changed it two-child policy.
The announcement has made through a communique issued by the ruling communist party after a four-day Communist party summit in Beijing.
The change of policy is intended to
- Balance population development world’s second largest economy.
- Address the challenge of unnatural negative demographics due rising numbers of old age population as well as concerns over declining labour force.
This announcement comes amid slowdown of China’s economy which has plunged for the first time below the 7 per cent figure since the 2009 global economic crisis.
point to note
- China had introduced its One-Child Policy in 1978 and was implemented in 1980 to rein in population growth in order to alleviate social, economic and environmental problems in China.
- It main intention was reduce population growth of the country by limiting most urban couples to only one child. In case of rural couples it was limited to only two children if the first child was a girl.
- Under this policy only few ethnic minorities were exempted including Tibetans, Uighurs.
- The policy was considered controversial as it had forced many abortions and is still being criticised by Human Rights groups and activists. However, Chinese authorities have claimed this policy was one of the main reason for its economic prosperity.
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