Three Decades of China's One Child Policy
- 14 years ago
The Chinese regime will mark 30 years of its one-child policy on Saturday. It's a controversial law that limits many couples to one child. Those who violate it can face stiff fines, a salary cut, or even forced abortion.
The policy was implemented in 1980 out of fears that a rising population would be bad for society and the economy. Farming families are allowed a second child if their first was a girl. Ethnic minorities and couples where both are only children are also exempt.
By some estimates, China today has 400 million fewer people than it would without the one-child policy.
But critics say it's led couples to abort or abandon female babies, due to a cultural preference for boys, causing a severe gender imbalance. And enforcing the law has often been violent, involving forced late-term abortions and sterilizations.
Authorities are now grappling with the problems of an aging population with too few young people to support it.
The policy was implemented in 1980 out of fears that a rising population would be bad for society and the economy. Farming families are allowed a second child if their first was a girl. Ethnic minorities and couples where both are only children are also exempt.
By some estimates, China today has 400 million fewer people than it would without the one-child policy.
But critics say it's led couples to abort or abandon female babies, due to a cultural preference for boys, causing a severe gender imbalance. And enforcing the law has often been violent, involving forced late-term abortions and sterilizations.
Authorities are now grappling with the problems of an aging population with too few young people to support it.