China does away with its one-child policy of the 1970s

China, has done away with its one-child policy of the 1970s - with immediate effect, married couples will now be allowed to have two children. This change was prompted due to the changed social scenario because of the country's aging population and shrinking workforce. This had been announced in October by the ruling Communist Party and will be effective from the first day of 2016.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 1 January 2016.

The one-child policy had been instituted in the late 1970s, and in order to restrict couples to only a single offspring there was a system of fines and even forced abortions. This one-child policy was seen as a key contributor to China's economic boom by preventing 400 million births. And - its ill effects are being felt only now.
Families in rural areas were allowed to have children if the first was a girl and ethnic minorities were allowed an extra child, leading some to call it a "one-and-a-half child" policy. The result was heart-breaking losses for would-be parents, leading to sex-selective abortions or infanticide that targeted the girls because of a long-held social preference for boys.
China's population is now aging fast and there is also a severe gender imbalance and, all the time, the nation's workforce is depleting.
Consequent to the new policy, the National Health and Family Planning Commission had predicted in November that around three million extra babies will be born each year over the next five years. This would, in turn, translate into addition of around 30 million people to China's labor force by 2050.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)

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China feels the pinch of one-child norms

China is feeling the pinch of restricting its families to one-child norm for nearly three decades. Therefore, they have officially scrapped its controversial decades-long one-child policy. Couples can now have more than one child.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 29 October 2015.

The agency Xinhua has referred to a communique issued by China's ruling Communist Party after a four-day meeting here to draw up the action plan of the country over the next five years.
This is the first time that China has done away with its one-child policy that was considered controversial as it forced many abortions and faced criticism by rights groups and activists.
According to United Nations estimates, China will is expected to have nearly 440 million people aged over 60 by 2050 and that could pose many social problems.
China had introduced its family planning policy in the late 1970s to rein in population growth by limiting most urban couples to one child and most rural couples to two. The birth of a second child was allowed only if the first child was a girl.
(Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org)


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