JOIN USChina working on plans to drop all birth restrictions by 2025
China’s Communist Party is reportedly working on a major policy shift to hack away at restrictions that limit the number of children citizens can legally have and transition towards policies that actively promote having more children in the next four years as Beijing struggles to head off the economic threat of an ageing labour force.
Discussions around completely scrapping birth restrictions by the end of the ruling Chinese Communist Party’s current five-year economic plan in 2025 are currently ongoing, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a source familiar with the matter. The source added that birth restrictions would likely be rolled back in provinces that have the lowest birth rates before nationwide policy changes are enforced.
China has had policies to control its growing population since 1980, viewing it as a hurdle in building a robust economy. When its famous “one-child” policy was enacted, many were fined for having more than one offspring, while others were forced into sterilisations or abortions. The policy did reap rewards for the next two decades, with China claiming to have pulled out large swathes of its massive population out of poverty.
However, the results of the most recent census (conducted once every ten years) revealed last month that the country’s population growth had slowed considerably and could turn negative in the next few years. A shrinking population would burden the government and working-age people with supporting a massive ageing population.
Fewer people of working age could also crimp consumer spending, leading to disastrous economic ramifications for China and the world in the years to come. Several economists have drawn comparisons to the way Japan’s ageing demographic contributed to the end of its economic boom in the 1990s.
The Chinese government has been relaxing the one-child policy since 2013, taking stock of the demographic issue in the last decade, followed by further easing in 2016. At the end of last month, China took a step further and allowed families to have up to three children.
However, many economists are skeptical of China’s ability to stage a turnaround even if birth restrictions are diluted, as many believe the decades-long restrictions have made Chinese families less inclined towards bearing and raising children.