Answer:
The nearly 40-year-old restriction on having multiple children isn't the only time the Chinese government stepped in to family planning. Shortly after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, Mao Zedong encouraged the population to multiply and create manpower. There was no official policy, but government propaganda condemned contraceptives and even banned the import of some. As a result, the population of China doubled over the next few years.
In 1979, the government introduced the one-child policy, under which most couples are allowed to have only one child or else face the possibility of fines, sterilizations, and abortions. Looking at just a half-century of data on China, we can see peaks and valleys in the birthrate reflecting pro-reproduction attitudes, famine, and the one-child policy.
In 2013, a relaxation of policy allowed over 12 million couples to apply to have a second child. Only about 12 percent of eligible couples applied. When the one-child policy ends in 2016, most couples will be restricted to two children. But that may not address all of the issues. After decades of the one-child policy, coupled with new economic and social pressures to succeed, many couples have decided to stop with one child or not have any at all. So, with a national birth rate well below the replacement level of 2.1 and some urban birth rates under 1, China faces a new challenge. How do they provide for an older population while also encouraging younger residents to have more children?
Low birth rates are also a product of personal choice, and the UN predicts we’ll see a considerably older world population by 2100. Countries including the U.S., Canada, Chile, Brazil, Russia, and Australia will likely reach a point where a quarter or more of their populations are above the age of 65, not working, and depending on a pension. On the other hand, most African countries, many former Soviet states, and large portions of Asia will remain young. But the younger populations of these countries won’t stop populous aging countries from reshaping the global population to the point that almost a fourth of all people on Earth will be over 65 by 2100.
Explanation
