China to end one child policy

[Armada]

Imagine the amount of boinking there is going to be in China now. 

Fun fact, the one-child policy is estimated to have prevented about 400m births since it began." That's around 5.4% of the worlds current population.

(CNN)China will allow two children for every couple, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported Thursday, a move that would effectively dismantle the remnants of the country's one-child policy that had been eased in recent years.

"To promote a balanced growth of population, China will continue to uphold the basic national policy of population control and improve its strategy on population development," Xinhua reported, citing a communique issued by the ruling Communist Party. "China will fully implement the policy of 'one couple, two children' in a proactive response to the issue of an aging population."

Xinhua said the proposal needs to be approved by China's top legislature before it can be enacted.

China, now a nation of more than 1.3 billion people, instituted a policy of one child per couple to control population growth in the 1970s.

Why the policy update is no silver bullet for economy

When its propaganda didn't work, local officials resorted to abortions, heavy fines and forced sterilization.

The decision to end the restriction followed a four-day strategy meeting of senior Communist Party officials at a Beijing hotel, CNN's David McKenzie said.

He has said the move was foreshadowed by a change in the propaganda: While old advertisements depicted parents doting on one child, he said, a recent commercial showed a boy begrudgingly sharing a toy with his younger sister.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/10/29/asia/china-one-child-policy/index.html

 

[thejazz97]

New baby boomers?

[Lancaster]

And many "progressive thinkers" wants to have a 1-child policy here in North America.... lol.

For those who don't know, China is going through the same demographic changes as in the West, where the Baby-boomer generations are reaching retirement and there aren't enough young people to support them.  Multi-generation family structure is very important in Chinese culture and it's very difficult to maintain when you have only 1 child and potentially that one child could be female and be married off to husband's side.

 

[Kakanucks]

I thought families in China were allowed to have more than one child, they just had to pay a certain fee or something.

Or they would register one child and not the rest, so you end up with many kids not in the system. At least in rural places.

[Lancaster]

I thought families in China were allowed to have more than one child, they just had to pay a certain fee or something.

Or they would register one child and not the rest, so you end up with many kids not in the system. At least in rural places.

I believe the fees are relatively high for the average family.

I know if your official residence is some rural countryside place, you can have more than 1 child to "help out".  A few of my friends from Shanghai have siblings due to the fact their family officially lives out in the country. 

 

[Frogger009]

I thought families in China were allowed to have more than one child, they just had to pay a certain fee or something.

Or they would register one child and not the rest, so you end up with many kids not in the system. At least in rural places.

I think it had more to do with registration and benefits. If you had more than one the government would stop sending any benefits they would normally and any children after the first couldn't be registered, so they essentially didn't exist in the governments eyes, so no passports, ect. 

[Miss Korea Bob.Loblaw]

I think it had more to do with registration and benefits. If you had more than one the government would stop sending any benefits they would normally and any children after the first couldn't be registered, so they essentially didn't exist in the governments eyes, so no passports, ect. 

I lulzed.

[D'Angelo Russell]

Its too little too late I think. They should have removed it 10 years ago, as by that time, the fertility rate had fallen below replacement level and was basically the same as western countries/Japan/South Korea in most provinces. Now there's a double whammy of the gender imbalance and aging population.  In some rural provinces the ratio of boys to girls given birth is like 140:100. 

I personally believe if economic development derails in China in the future, a major cause would be the one-child policy (as well-intention as it was), along with a few other major problems (pollution, corruption, etc.).  Not sure they can fix population problems but hopefully they figure out pollution and corruption at least. 

[D'Angelo Russell]

I thought families in China were allowed to have more than one child, they just had to pay a certain fee or something.

Or they would register one child and not the rest, so you end up with many kids not in the system. At least in rural places.

Population control measures are mainly aimed at the majority Han Chinese. That's why in minority regions like Tibet, the fertility rate is the highest. 

There are some loopholes, like having twins. I read some article where there was a spike in number of multiple births by women who use some sort of ovary stimulant to have multiple eggs fertilize or something. Rich families in the cities can also afford the fee you mentioned. In rural areas it is not uncommon to see multi-children families. 

[Industrious1]

Great for Chinese families.

Not so great for the world population though.

[D'Angelo Russell]

It really won't increase the birth rates by much. It's easier to depress birth rates than it is to raise it. There's no incentive to have large families anymore. 

[Heretic]

1.357 billion can't be wrong....

[Offensive Threat]

It really won't increase the birth rates by much. It's easier to depress birth rates than it is to raise it. There's no incentive to have large families anymore. 

Look at all the women having 4-5-6 children all over Africa. Whats their incentive? They are already poor/destitute and they keep having kids. Combined with India and a few other countries this is where the worlds population crisis is coming from. Its a disaster in the making and it keeps on going.

 The one child policy in China was necessary. They did the math. They saw the numbers growing and their ability to feed their people ( before china was wealthy) and they did what they had to. Otherwise over 100 million people would have starved to death.  They have been gradually loosening the rules on the 1 child policy. Its been about a decade since they allowed a couple made up of 2 only children to have 2 kids. Rural families have always been allowed 2 and sometimes 3. Visible minorities have always had relaxed rules as well.

[D'Angelo Russell]

Look at all the women having 4-5-6 children all over Africa. Whats their incentive? They are already poor/destitute and they keep having kids. Combined with India and a few other countries this is where the worlds population crisis is coming from. Its a disaster in the making and it keeps on going.

 The one child policy in China was necessary. They did the math. They saw the numbers growing and their ability to feed their people ( before china was wealthy) and they did what they had to. Otherwise over 100 million people would have starved to death.  They have been gradually loosening the rules on the 1 child policy. Its been about a decade since they allowed a couple made up of 2 only children to have 2 kids. Rural families have always been allowed 2 and sometimes 3. Visible minorities have always had relaxed rules as well.

I totally agree the one-child policy is necessary. I will further explain what i mean by incentive, I won't put many stats on here but just state my observations. 

We only need to look at how Canada/Western Countries have dealt with low birthrates/aging. For Canada (or other western countries) its mainly through immigration, but why such a policy? Because these countries do not have a high enough birth rate to sustain the economy and people have no incentive to have as many children as they did in the past. Japan plans to basically pay people to have more children. 

It's the same thing with China. It's expensive to raise children there and the general sentiment towards family size is similar to Taiwan/Korea/Japan. China is also at different a stage of economic development as compared to Africa or even India, with urbanization at over 50% and increasing rapidly (which generally correlates to natural decrease in family sizes). Plus, the cultural attitudes towards birth control are so different they aren't even comparable. In other words, there is no incentive and birth rates won't increase dramatically at all. 

But look, China has more than 1.3 Billion. This is true, but I think it's also equally important to look at the population structure. For example, if 30% of the population is over the age of 60, then there are big problems economically, especially for a country that has not fully reach first world status. So I believe a more gradual decrease in birth rates is better, to prolong the available labour force and sustain economic growth. Yes, one-child policy is necessary, but they could have gotten rid of it earlier as it has already passed its usefulness. 

 

 

[Baer.]

Everbody wanted a son to carry on the name, so now men severly outnumber the women.

 

A lot of lonely guys over there...

[nucklehead]

That's so weird cause I have all these Chinese women sending me emails saying there's no good men...lol

[Lancaster]

Look at all the women having 4-5-6 children all over Africa. Whats their incentive? They are already poor/destitute and they keep having kids. Combined with India and a few other countries this is where the worlds population crisis is coming from. Its a disaster in the making and it keeps on going.

 The one child policy in China was necessary. They did the math. They saw the numbers growing and their ability to feed their people ( before china was wealthy) and they did what they had to. Otherwise over 100 million people would have starved to death.  They have been gradually loosening the rules on the 1 child policy. Its been about a decade since they allowed a couple made up of 2 only children to have 2 kids. Rural families have always been allowed 2 and sometimes 3. Visible minorities have always had relaxed rules as well.

Just to add in... it's necessary only in China, due to their poor economic policies and poor management.  A more open and capitalistic society would have been able to handle the situation without such forceful measures.  I mean, there's a reason that China has the largest population in the world for the last hundred years or so..... it's a huge place with some of the best agricultural regions in the world.  Just communism and efficient farming methods doesn't really go hand-in-hand.  Easier to just implement some form of mandatory birth control than to just admit that you have absolutely no idea what you're doing, lol. 

[Offensive Threat]

Everbody wanted a son to carry on the name, so now men severly outnumber the women.

 

A lot of lonely guys over there...

Yeah, at one point there were 1.21 male children per female child in China. World averages are 1.01 men per women. The Chinese Gov has always denied that keeping only male babies was a widespread problem but the numbers dont lie.

 BTW Canada has slightly more females than males.

[Jaimito]

Just to add in... it's necessary only in China, due to their poor economic policies and poor management.  A more open and capitalistic society would have been able to handle the situation without such forceful measures.  I mean, there's a reason that China has the largest population in the world for the last hundred years or so..... it's a huge place with some of the best agricultural regions in the world.  Just communism and efficient farming methods doesn't really go hand-in-hand.  Easier to just implement some form of mandatory birth control than to just admit that you have absolutely no idea what you're doing, lol. 

"A more open and capitalistic society " like what, India? Some of top 10 famines in 20th century were in India. They are still a poor nation, and about to overtake China in population in a decade.

regardless, what's good for a particular society doesn't apply to every society. The one child policy was the right thing to do given their situation in the 70s.

 

in contrast, Japan is aging too much, and the government encourages couples to have more kids by giving them some perks and financial aid.

[Jägermeister]

BTW Canada has slightly more females than males.

Score!