BEIJING: In a landmark policy shift in the People’s Republic of China, the authorities have allowed parents to have three children as the recent census data depicted an alarming decline in birth rates.
Report of Chinese state-controlled media stated that the permission to have a third child stemmed from low birthrate in the East Asian country as it put the country’s economy at long-term risks.
The rise in the aging population alarmed the authorities while the new policy was unveiled by Chinese incumbent President Xi Jinping during a top-level meeting.
The report quoted an announcement of officials that stated ‘Birth policies will be further improved, as this policy that allows a couple to have three children will be introduced with other supporting measures. Every couple to have three children and implementing related support policies will help improve the population’s structure’.
The top Chinese authorities appeared to be alarmed as the data from the census, which took place every ten years in the most populous country, showed that the working-age population plunged over the past years, while the number of senior citizens soared rapidly.
Furthermore, the fertility rate of China was recorded at just 1.3 children per woman for 2020 alone, quite similar to Japan and Italy.
With the amendment in the country’s major law, some news outlets reported that government will also lift the retirement age in a systematic method as the country also faced another drawback which is the world’s lowest official retirement ages. According to stat experts, the population of the East Asian country will start to shrink before 2025. At least 12 million new babies born in 2020 – the lowest number since 1961.
As the country rolled out its latest policy to curb low birth rates, Chinese users took to their social media platforms where they mocked while lamenting that young one would now have to raise three kids besides supporting elderly parents and paying hefty debts.
The country also seemed to be worried over low women’s employment as it’s tough for women to get a job as companies are unlikely to be willing to shoulder the costs.
One-child policy
The birth control culture was introduced by the country’s Communist Party during the economic resurgence in the late 1970s and early ’80s. Chinese citizens who violated the policy were slapped with huge penalties in a bid to slow down the birth rate as the country’s population touched the one-billion mark in the 70s.
China started easing the single child policy by 2013 and it was officially terminated in October 2015.
Chinese authorities faced global backlash as the one-child policy comes with many controversies including forced abortions and sterilizations of women. Some even forced to get IUDs and other forms of birth control in order to contribute to lowering the skyrocketed population.
TOURIST HANGS ON FOR LIFE AS CHINESE PANEL GLASS BRIDGE SMASHED AMID GALE FORCE WINDS
