Population Policies

This map shows the proportion of the world's total births for each territory.

133,121,000 babies were born in the year 2000. In countries with the fewest births per person, more people are dying than are being born. As with all population statistics, even this vital one, figures are rough estimates.More children are born each year in Africa than are born in the Americas, all of Europe and Japan put together. Worldwide, more than a third of a million new people will be born on your birthday this year.

Anti-natalist

Policies that discourage births and try to slow population growth.

Pro-natalist

Policies that encourage more births.

3 types of pro-natalist policies

Regulatory approach

Where governments impose regulations and restrictions that control the number of births.

Incentives

Governments offer things like prizes or money to families that limit the number of children they have.

Raise people´s standards of living

In the hope that this will result in reduced populations.

China

One Child Policy

China

China has the world´s largest population.

China: Demographic Transition

Niu Yi Qiao, Barcelona, February 27th 2005

During the past 50 years, China has experienced demographic change at an historic scale. This has had a profound impact upon its population structure. This article by Barcelona-based Chinese student Niu Yi Qiao outlines the causes and impacts of the change.

Pre-1949:

China had experienced a century of imperial decline, natural disasters, foreign invasion and civil unrest. Life expectancy was as low as 36 years. The communists took over in 1949 after the civil war and began to modernize China.

1949 – 1958:

The communists shifted their attention to economic development and together with a rich resource base there was a 10% annual growth rate in the economy. A very successful healthcare program and better nutrition brought a marked fall in the death rate, especially in infant mortality. Most of the population was still rural and people’s minds were still dominated by the traditional view: more children to work the land, more children as a guarantee for security in old age. The birth rate was high and consequently the natural increase was rapid.

1949 - 1958:

The communists shifted their attention to economic development and together with a rich resource base there was a 10% annual growth rate in the economy. A very successful healthcare program and better nutrition brought a marked fall in the death rate, especially in infant mortality. Most of the population was still rural and people ﾕ s minds were still dominated by the traditional view: more children to work the land, more children as a guarantee for security in old age. The birth rate was high and consequently the natural increase was rapid.

1958 - 1963:

The communist leader Mao (who was a very successful politician and general, but not a great economic planner) was impatient with the rate of progress. What followed was the 'Great Leap Forward' policy, a forced industrialization during which millions of peasants were made to leave the land to work in factories. The slogan at the time was 'overtake the British, race the Americans'. The political mismanagement and low agricultural production (there was a shortage for farmers) led to widespread famine and caused 25-30 million deaths, and a 30-35% fall in the birth rate. The death rate rose higher than the birth rate and the population experienced 5 years of natural decrease.

1962 - 1980:

The 'demographic disaster' of the Great Leap Forward was followed by a baby boom in the mid-1960s and the economy began to recover. The introduction of private enterprise raised the level of food production. Throughout the 1970s politicians sought to bring about a drastic reduction in family size as they realised that a huge population threatened to outgrow the available resources. What emerged was the 'one child policy', which has been very successful in reducing birth rates. The implementation of the policy was harsh and there were strict penalties: the 'Granny Police' watched over couples of childbearing age, and if a couple had more than one child, both parents would lose their jobs.

The local government would issue a fine large enough to bankrupt the family and worse, the 'illegal' child would not be given a 'household register' which was necessary for school enrolment and applying for jobs. Usually, a married couple would fulfil the policy out of fear alone, although due to industrialisation and improved education, people were becoming more receptive to new ideas. Contraception was widely practiced throughout China in order to reduce pregnancies and widen the spacing between births. A steady reduction in the birth rate resulted.

1980 - 1990:

Economic growth slowed due to inflation and a trade imbalance. Due to the success of the rigid one child policy, birth rates continued to decrease although in 1984 there was a slight rise.

1990 - Today:

China is now a 'post-transitional' society, where life expectancy has reached new heights, fertility has declined to below-replacement level, and rapid population ageing is on the horizon. In the not-too-distant future, in a matter of a few decades, Chinas population will start to shrink. In this process, China will also lose its position as the most populous country in the world to India. The 'one child policy' has recently been relaxed to a 'two child policy' in many districts in order to avoid the problems an ageing population could bring.

This has additional implications: it is usually the rural villages that have established the 'two child policy', meaning that in the future Chinas population may be dominated by undereducated peasants (who already comprise 70% of the population). In the more advanced cities, it is not only the local government policy that maintains low birthrates, but the change in peoples mentality. Most Chinese women have their own career and are unwilling to sacrifice their job for children. The expense of raising a child has also been taken into consideration by new couples. It is likely the Chinese government will soon consider a 'three child policy' to force couples into having more babies in order to maintain a low-cost workforce.

What exactly is China's Population?

The one child policy has avoided the birth of 400 million people in three decades, according to the Chinese government, although, in fact, it applies to only 36% of the population and in the countryside many babies are not registered. Therefore, according to different institutions, the Chinese population in 2007 is in fact 1,600 million and not 1,300 as is officially announced. The government announced in April 2007 that the Chinese population will be less than 1,360 million in 2010 and 1,450 million in 2020.

China warns of population growth

China's top family planning body has warned of a "population rebound" as couples flout one child policy rules.

The widening wealth gap could lead to a rise in birth rates, Zhang Weiqing, from the National Population and Family Planning Commission, told state media. Newly rich couples can afford to pay fines to have more than one child, while rural couples are marrying earlier, he told Xinhua news agency. China has about 1.3 billion people, 20% of the world's total.It is keen to curb its population growth, and the controversial family planning policy, implemented in the late 1970s, is meant to limit urban couples to one child and rural families to two.

But rising incomes mean that some newly rich couples in urban areas can easily afford to break the rules and pay the resulting fines. In fact, last month, a survey by the National Population and Family Planning Commission found that the number of rich people and celebrities having more than one child was on a rapid increase, and nearly 10% of people in this category had three children.

Rural trends

In the countryside, too, the rules are being flouted. China's constitution says that men may marry at 22 and women at 20, with late marriages and later childbearing encouraged. But according to Mr Zhang, "early marriages are still prevailing in some parts of the country, especially in rural areas, which goes against the family planning policy". Part of the reason why rural families refuse to comply is because of the traditional preference for sons. Experts say this preference has led to the under-reporting of female births, as well as abortion of female foetuses and female infanticide. By the end of 2006, China's population stood at 1,314,480,000, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, with males accounting for 51.5% of the population.