China will end it's one child policy

[Anonymous]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34665539">http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34665539

China has decided to end its decades-long one-child policy, the state-run Xinhua news agency reports.



Couples will now be allowed to have two children, it said, citing a statement from the Communist Party.



The controversial policy was introduced nationally in 1979, to slow the population growth rate.



It is estimated to have prevented about 400 million births. However concerns at China's ageing population led to pressure for change.



Couples who violated the one-child policy faced a variety of punishments, from fines and the loss of employment to forced abortions.

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Over time, the policy has been relaxed in some provinces, as demographers and sociologists raised concerns about rising social costs and falling worker numbers.



The decision to allow families to have two children was designed "to improve the balanced development of population'' and to deal with an aging population, according to the statement from the Community Party's Central Committee carried by the official Xinhua News Agency (in Chinese) on Thursday.



Currently about 30% of China's population is over the age of 50. The total population of the country is around 1.36 billion.



The Communist Party began formally relaxing national rules two years ago, allowing couples in which at least one of the pair is an only child to have a second child.



◾Introduced in 1979, the policy meant that many Chinese citizens - around a third, China claimed in 2007 - could not have a second child without incurring a fine

◾In rural areas, families were allowed to have two children if the first was a girl

◾Other exceptions included ethnic minorities and - since 2013 - couples where at least one was a single child

◾Campaigners say the policy led to forced abortions, female infanticide, and the under-reporting of female births

◾It was also implicated as a cause of China's gender imbalance



What was China's one-child policy?





Correspondents say that despite the relaxation of the rules, many couples may opt to only have one child, as one-child families have become the social norm.



Critics say that even a two-child policy will not boost the birth rate enough, the BBC's John Sudworth reports.



And for those women who want more than two children, nor will it end the state's insistence on the right to control their fertility, he adds.



"As long as the quotas and system of surveillance remains, women still do not enjoy reproductive rights," Maya Wang of Human Rights Watch told AFP.

[RW]

I read that too.  



What if you had twins?  What would they do in China under the one baby policy?

[Anonymous]

I read that too.  



What if you had twins?  What would they do in China under the one baby policy?

The term one child policy was misleading..



There were many eceptions and ethnic minorities were exempt..



To my knowledge there was no penalty for twins.

[RW]

I read that too.  



What if you had twins?  What would they do in China under the one baby policy?

The term one child policy was misleading..



There were many exemptions and ethnic minorities were exempt..



To my knowledge there was no penalty for twins.

Maybe that's why twins are considered lucky :)

[Anonymous]

I read that too.  



What if you had twins?  What would they do in China under the one baby policy?

The term one child policy was misleading..



There were many exemptions and ethnic minorities were exempt..



To my knowledge there was no penalty for twins.

Maybe that's why twins are considered lucky :)

He he, that must be it.

 ac_biggrin

[RW]

Well if you rub them you don't win the lottery so they gotta be good for something hahahaha

[Anonymous]

I heard that by the middle of the century more than one third of Chinese will be over sixty. It seems they waited a little too late for this announcement.

[Anonymous]

I am a product of the one child policy. Not having a sibling didn't bother me when we lived in China because none of my classmates did either. It wasn't until we came to Canada that I became aware of it and bummed out by it too. This is why I always said that I would make sure my son has a little brother or sister.

[cc]

Amazing no one did the math before making the law



It was really simple to have seen it would  fail and  slowly destroy the country

[Anonymous]

Amazing no one did the math before making the law



It's really simple to have seen it would  fail and possibly destroy them

In all fairness, Chinese families were having six kids when Deng Xiao Ping became chairman. They had to do something. However, they should have ended it 20 years ago.

[cc]

I understand the math for the 6 kids thing doesn't work, but it was suicide to go to 1



3 max works mathematically to keep approx. the same total population - even 2 max won't work to maintain population as some will have less, some offspring  will die through a number of causes



I find it amazing that it got to this point before the game was called

[Anonymous]

I understand the math for the 6 kids thing, but 1 was suicide to go to 1



3 max works mathematically to keep approx. the same total population - even 2 max won't work as some will have less, some offspring  will die through a number of causes

They wanted to change the big family culture. Affluence alone would have changed that as it has everywhere that becomes affluent.

[cc]

You are correct that affluence works, in fact seems to work too well. Means one has to import and ultimately obliterate  the culture

[RW]

I thought they were trying to curb the population explosion.

[Anonymous]

You are correct that affluence works, in fact seems to work too well. Means one has to import and ultimately obliterate  the culture

China went from one extreme to another..



Mao wanted big families even though mainlanders were starving..



Deng wanted well fed smaller families.