Beijing eyes two-child policy U-turn, but 'lonely generation' has moved on
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
BEIJING — For nearly 40 years, the Chinese government harshly restricted childbearing through the one-child rule in order to control population growth. That may soon change.
Beijing appears to be on the cusp of abolishing all of its family planning rules — and is even encouraging young couples to have more children as a matter of patriotic urgency.
But attitudes toward parenthood have changed. Even though there is a two-child policy in place now, many Chinese still don’t want to have more than one child — or any at all.
“I think having one child is enough,” said Chen Yiwen, a 25-year-old accountant and newlywed. “I won’t be tempted to have more — even if the family planning policy is abolished.”
After decades of harsh restrictions, China is encouraging couples to have two children, if not more. Yu ping / Imaginechina/AP file
Chen is not the only woman in the country who shares that sentiment — and that has China’s ruling Communist Party worried.
She said that she and her husband, a 27-year-old midlevel bank manager, are settling into married life in Xining, a city with 2.2 million people on the Tibetan plateau in central China. For now, they are focusing on “enhancing our self-value” and their careers.
“Besides, we already have two little babies — a poodle and a corgi,” she said.
'A DISTORTED SEX RATIO'
Chen is part of what has been dubbed the “lonely generation,” those born under the one-child rule.
As China’s population ballooned to close to one billion in the 1970s, the government became concerned about the impact that would have on its plans for rapid economic growth.
So Beijing introduced the one-child policy in 1979. People who defied it faced hefty financial penalties and some civil servants lost their jobs. But much worse, many women faced the horror of sterilization and forced abortions.
Beijing claims that 400 million births were prevented as a result of the policy from 1980 to 2005.
But the the rule's strict enforcement was seen as a violation of human and reproductive rights by critics.
As a result of China’s traditional preference for male offspring, especially in rural areas, many woman who were carrying female babies were forced to get abortions.
Chinese doctors performed more than 330 million abortions and 196 million sterilizations since 1971, according to official data from the Chinese Health Ministry released in March 2013 and reported by the Financial Times and other international news organizations .
If the mothers did give birth, girls were often abandoned, placed in orphanages or given up for adoption abroad.
By the end of 2014, China had 33.76 million more males then females. For every 100 girls, there were 116 boys.
“The policy clearly skewed the population structure in many ways,” said Cai Yong, a professor who focuses on Chinese demographics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “The Chinese population is aging very fast, and China has a distorted sex ratio.”
Data shows that in 1980, people 65 and older accounted for just 4.7 percent of the Chinese population. That percentage grew to 10 percent in 2015, and is projected to surge to 33 percent by 2050, according to United Nations figures.
China’s average birth rate fell to a record low of 1.04 in 2015, among the lowest in the world. In contrast, the U.S. birth rate in the U.S. was 1.80 last year, according to the World Bank.
Beijing fears that the aging population will have an adverse effect on the economy as the number of young workers shrinks and the government has to shoulder pension costs for the elderly.
'TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE'
In 2015, China finally terminated the one-child policy and started to allow people to have two children.
However, the new policy hasn’t achieved its goal . In 2017, the number of newborn babies actually fell by 3.5 percent, according to the country's statistics bureau. As many as 630,000 fewer babies were born that year, despite the loosening of restrictions.
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You have to love humans. They never seem to learn that taking the easy path to hard problems usually results in negative unforeseen outcomes. China was so eager to get control over their population, that they have now outdone themselves into negative numbers with huge social and economic impact as a nation.
There is an old expression that man makes plans and god laughs. He must be rolling on the floor with this. I wonder what else he is laughing at right now.
He’s not laughing. Neither is the Easter bunny, Santa Claus, or the great pumpkin ... for the same reason.
That is an expression. No faith required.
What do you think about the article?
Oh, I didn’t read it. You see ... as an atheist, my super-power is the ability to detect any mention of God on the internet. Then I zero in and defend the truth about gods, with Robocop precision.
no truer words were ever spoken.
banning paper bags in favor of plastic... because killing trees is not environmentally friendly
and then,
banning plastic straws in favor of paper... because plastic is not environmentally friendly.
gotta admit... kinda funny
but this one...
the USA banning trans fats - trading a few heart attacks for a national obesity epidemic.
when a national health kick makes most everyone obese? priceless.
but hey, that is what happens when a govt gets big enough to tell people what to do and how to live.
happens every time
And yet nothing about the article.
only because you nailed it.
to which I did reply.
if you don't like my reply? or the depth of my reply? that is another issue.
This is what makes population control and family planning so important to begin with. Once a population becomes too large, correcting the associated consequences, including attempts to reduce population growth, becomes even more problematic. China's 1-child policy to control growth was a good idea on paper, but also a short-sighted one. Now we're seeing the effects.
Yup. They didn't take into account the cultural preference for boys, and the imbalance that would result. And any rapid changes in birth rate, either positive or negative, are bound to stress resources.
The gender disparity is just 1 consequence, with its own issues. But I'd say resources would be more stressed with a larger population than with less.
Yes, but consider a large aged population being supported by a much smaller working-age cohort. Jobs would go unfilled. Skilled nursing care for the elderly would be difficult to obtain.
Makes one think.
For some reason I was thinking along the lines of more monetary reasons. Not enough filling up the money coffers to support programs.
That, too.
Either way, large changes in demographics are difficult to prepare for.
Boosting the population to care for a large number of elderly will only exacerbate the initial problem in the long run. Eventually, the newer generation will age and need care themselves. The sustainability of necessary resources only becomes further strained. Unfortunately, there is no quick or easy fix. Unless nature itself aggressively deals with overpopulation.
Agreed on all points.
You are indeed wiser than most.
It's even worse than that. The young used to take care of the older family members. It was one of the few societies where the old were revered. Now without enough youth, the government will have to step in.
You guys are funny!
And care in the family home is almost always preferable to a nursing home.
Reverence for the aged was something I always admired in Asian societies.
Yep, you're right. However, in the area where I live, which is modern with great infrastructure and is kept super clean, housing middle and upper-middle class population, a huge new primary school affiliated with the local Chongqing Normal University was just built, a big Montessori Kindergarten was opened last year, a whole bunch of smaller private schools have been opening in the malls, all kinds of facilities and stores for babies and young children have been thriving here - all to handle a baby boom, but I guess it isn't the same elsewhere.
You’re not alone I’m constantly fighting the urban sprawl and concrete jungle where I live too. I see a move to Montana or Alaska in my not too distant future. The population explosion has ruined Colorado.
I think Arkansas Hermit has the right idea.
Sprawl is my bread and butter. Keep ‘em coming!
.
Hawk eyed view nicked from google maps
Lots & lots of privacy.
Nearest neighbor is about a mile away, though that cleared spot at the top of the shot is his pasture where he'll graze his cows a couple of times a year.
It's kind of soothing to sit out on the back deck on a soft summer night and listen to the cattle softly lowing off in the distance.
.
.
Been there, done that, got the 2end degree, full body sunburn to prove it.
Several years back woke up in bed after a week long, black out drunk, drinking binge, (something else one can get away with, living alone in the woods).
As my mind slowly cleared I noticed two things.
First was the PAIN, darn if I wasn't hurting from head to toe, and second was that I was naked as a Jaybird.
Took some time but I finally realized that my last memory was nearly two days old. I remembered I had taken my rum out onto the back deck and was enjoying a mild summer morning.
I remember thinking how nice the sun felt on my face so, using a drunks logic, I took my shirt off thinking, "More skin, more joy". ( lol )
That was my last clear memory.
Backtracking and following the signs, I found ALL my cloths laying out on the back deck, (apparently continuing with my drunken logic to its obvious conclusion).
Even more disturbing I also found a half dozen spent shotgun shells.
I must have been running around naked for a couple of days and, at some point during that time, I apparently grabbed my gun and started taken random shots at who knows what.
There was also a crock pot full of some sort of thick, brown sludge.
Looking at the contents of the trash I had apparently just emptied several random types of can goods and boxes of Mac & cheese into the slow cooker, let it simmer and had been eating that. Yuck!
Never did get back all the memories of those two days of naked cavorting but I'm am glad that I live alone in the woods and get to enjoy such wild adventures! ( BIG Smile )
Hahaha
Well, you came out of it in one piece.
Around here the cops would have been called in a minute. Neighbors everywhere.
I wouldn't know what to do with all that freedom and solitude.
Very cool Arkey!
what a week!
i want to party with you cowboy,
but,
id prefer your clothes stay on,
as i'm not as promiss Quious as some , yet more than some others.
There's just something about alcohol and firearms that makes me happy. You can have the tobacco, never smoked
cigarettes , but i'm pretty sure you would have another type of garden variety hanging around
Buzz,
I am not sure how traditional areas are doing. I know that girls were not wanted because they went to the boys family. So, maybe allowing for more than one child might work, but what if in the country side you end up with 2 girls. Then what?
Keep in mind that before more modern farm machinery was being used, farmers were always permitted to have more children if they first had daughters, because they needed boys to work on the farms. Girls were not as useful for the heavy work involved, but now do to more sophisticated machinery and automation it doesn't make as much difference.
Overpopulation is the biggest problem we face
Yeah, I mean it's not nice at the level of the individual family, but the planet would pretty clearly benefit from a few less people.
And so simple, easy to solve. I like how you pound this particular drum. There are far too many humans who all seek a comfortable life. It is part of, and often most of, every problem we face. If you agree, get fixed, simple. If you just HAVE to have a child of your own, have one (ONE!) then get fixed. The word 'duh' means far too much to most people when it comes to human procreation.
I had one pregnancy.. but we all know how that worked out. But we didn't have anymore after that. I call it replacement rate.
Wow! I'd say she was quite a coper.