China's 'One-child family' demographic policy - analyzing the consequences of the measures taken to confine the demographic growth of China

• Author: Pascu, M. L.
• Position: PhD candidate in sociology, SNSPA Bucharest
• Pages: 103-110

Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Braşov • Vol. 4 (53) •No. 1 - 2011

Series VII: Social Sciences • Law

CHINA’S “ONE-CHILD FAMILY”

DEMOGRAPHIC POLICY - ANALYZING

THE CONSEQUENCES OF

THE MEASURES TAKEN TO CONFINE

THE DEMOGRAPHIC GROWTH OF CHINA

Mihai Lucian PASCU1

Abstract: The so called “one-child policy” has brought economic benefits

in China for the three decades since it was enforced, but it has also brought a

series of disadvantages with consequences in the near future: increase of the

dependency ratio in China with the accentuation of the population ageing

phenomenon and the occurrence of disparities in the sex ratio that will lead

to special social problems. Some experts believe that the simplistic reasoning

behind the “one-child policy” might be responsible for the next demographic

crisis. On one hand, the number of Chinese citizens is still growing. On the

other hand China faces a very rapid aging of the population.

Key words: ”one-child” policy, birth control, gender disparities, ageing of

the population.

1 PhD candidate in sociology, SNSPA Bucharest.

1. Introduction

The first post-revolutionary census in

1953 revealed China’s population to be of

582 million inhabitants. Upon the fifth

census in 2000 the population had

exceeded l.2953 billion, thus showing a

particular dynamics of the demographic

evolution. According to the CIA

assessments, in 2009 the Chinese

population counted a total of

1.338.612.968 inhabitants [9] in the

continental China, with an estimated

increase rate of 0.629% for 2008.

According to the same assessment, in

2009, Hong Kong registered a population

of 7.055.071 inhabitants, 559.846

inhabitants in Macau, hence a total of

1.346.227.885 inhabitants.

Every year China’s population increases

by approximately 7 million inhabitants, i.e

the population of a London-sized city. This

increase rate is estimated to keep up in the

next 8 to10 years with a higher rate in the

rural regions, where jobs are harder to

find. [8]

The Chinese have shown an interest

towards social programs designed to

support birth control including eugenics,

since the 1920s - 1930s. In the mid 1950s,

the Chinese government had gradually

incorporated family planning and birth

control measures. In 1971 the government

launched the first family planning initiative

known as the “wan-xi-shao” (later, longer,

fewer), meaning “later marriages, longer

period between births and fewer children”.