China's Communist Party has made a landmark decision on Thursday, Oct 29: it is ending its one-child policy.
In a statement released by the party, scrapping the decades-old reproductive rule is necessary to fight the aging population of the country and hopefully drive what it perceives to be a slowing economy.
The one-child policy was introduced in the late 1970s as a family planning measure and to curb the population boom. China remains to be the most populated country in the world with 1.357 billion people in 2013, at least a hundred billion more than India in the same period. However, the term "one child" may be a misnomer since the policy is limited to only 40% of the country's population. Also, certain minorities especially in the rural areas are allowed to have one more child if the eldest is a girl. Nevertheless, couples who violated the regulation may be forced to cough up huge fines or fees, as well as go through sterilization, while women may be compelled to undergo late-term abortion.
In 2013, Beijing, the country's capital, began easing on the policy rules by allowing couples to have another child if at least one of the parents was an only child. According to the state, the enforcement of the policy prevented the births of around 400 million children, which helped keep its population stable. However, it may have also partly contributed to the continuous growth of its aging group, which almost rivals that of the working population.
Although some couples welcomed the news, others are less optimistic. One of China's demographic experts Wang Feng noted that while the decision was forthcoming and something that they have been waiting for a long time, it may not be able to resolve the challenges of the aging population anymore. There is also a significantly higher number of males than females as couples prefer the former, even deciding to commit infanticide if the baby is a girl. In 2011 alone, almost 52% of the population were males while only 48% were females. Despite the lift, it's still possible that couples would not add one more into their brood as many are concerned about the rising costs of child rearing.