China is easing its one-child policy after decades of it being in place. Millions of families will be able to have two children instead of one for the first time in almost three decades.
The Chinese government announced on Friday that parents can now have two children. There was been a noticeable shift in the population toward the elderly who are unable to work and need support. As a result, there is a need for younger people, Reuters reports.
The policy has been in effect since the Communist Party introduced it in 1979. It was put in place to help the impoverished country feed its people. The country says the policy keeps family expenses down so parents can raise their standards
of living.
However according to China demographer He Yafu, the policy threatens the stability of the country because the elderly population is growing faster than it was in previous years.
"The change of one-child policy and the labor camp system shows China's new leaders made a resolute decision to reform this time, which is better than the last group of leaders," He told USA Today.
The change in the policy could mean big things for China's future. Easing the policy may not have a huge demographic impact, but it could lead to the policy being abolished completely.
"The demographic significance is minimal but the political significance is substantial," Wang Feng, a sociology professor at Fudan University specialising in China's demographics, told CNN. "This is one of the most urgent policy changes that we've been awaiting for years. What this will mean is a very speedy abolishment of the one-child policy."
The policy hasn't been eased since the 1980's in which the governement allowed rural families with a girl to have more than one child. The rules are very complicated. Currently, urban couples can have a second child if both parents do not have siblings and rural couples are allowed to have two children if their first-born is a girl. There are also loose rules for ethnic minorities.
Any couple that violates the rules must pay a large fine. The on-child policy currently covers 63 percent of the population. Beijing says it has averted 400 million births since 1980. In 2008, the last year in which abortion numbers were made available, 13 million abortions were done.
Some analysts say the policy has shrunk the labor pool and hurt economic growth. The elderly population makes up 11 percent of the population today and could reach up to 31 percent by 2050 if the policy isn't altered.
Some say the policy change won't matter as some parents stand by the idea that having more than one child raises the cost of living in China.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
