China reverses population norm

Over 35 years after it was first introduced, the one-child policy is out of China. Introduced with the aim of reducing China’s population growth rate, the decision to abandon it, which comes in the wake of growing concern over the country’s increasingly grey population, is welcome. Under the one-child policy, couples were permitted one child only. Violators faced a variety of punishments ranging from fines and loss of employment to forced abortions. An intrusion of the state into the personal lives of people, the one-child policy was unpopular. It caused enormous suffering; women bore the brunt of this rule. It violated their right to reproductive choices. A woman often underwent multiple abortions. She had to bear its damaging impact on her physical and psychological well-being. The one-child policy contributed to female foeticide, a skewed sex ratio and a shortage of women in Chinese society. Its grave economic costs are unfolding now. China isn’t producing enough young people. This has led to a drop in the proportion of the productive labour force. Authorities fear that the resulting rise in wage levels would make China less competitive globally in labour-intensive industries; hence the decision to end the one-child rule.

The decision is a culmination of a decade-long debate within the Chinese leadership on changing the one-child policy. Way back in 2007, the administration of Guangzhou in Guangdong province – the third largest city in the country – had relaxed the policy in the city. Whether or not to have children and how many are personal issues that should be left to couples. It is not for the state to decide on these matters. Interestingly, China’s one-child policy was not the success it is trumpeted to be. It is true that China’s birth rate fell but demographers attribute this to education, changing lifestyles and urbanisation rather than the one-child rule. In the circumstances, the shift to a two-child policy is unlikely to push couples to have more children. Most Chinese couples prefer to have one child as this fits in with their busy lifestyles, career pressures and so on.

China’s experience on the population front is a lesson to other countries like India that are grappling with large populations. Social engineering by the state
doesn’t always work the way they are expected to. In practice, such efforts could have a disastrous impact. Importantly, forcing people to limit the size of their family is not only a gross violation of their rights but also, it doesn’t work. This is better achieved through education, awareness creation and economic prosperity.