After nearly
4 decades of harsh punishments that included fines and forced abortions to
abide by the ‘one child policy’, China is now offering incentives for parents
that chose to have a second child.
This
announcement was made on Saturday during a meeting of the China Social Welfare
Academy, by Wang Peian, the vice-minister of the National Health and Family
Planning Commission (NHFPC).
She said "To
have a second child is the right of each family in China but affordability has
become a bottleneck that undermines the decision."
A poll
conducted by NHFPC in 2015 showed that 60% of people survey were reluctant to
have second child because of financial constraints.
China
birthrate is lowest in the world and it is home to 114 million people over the age
of 65 years, with 90 million more expecting to retire in next 30 years. This is
going to create a large vacuum of young people in labor force till the newborns
are old enough to work.
The one
child policy was implemented in 1979 after a massive population explosion with
average 6 births per woman of reproductive age group.
The policy
brought down the rate to 1.5 birth per woman for the last 20 years.
China overturned it's one child policy in October 2015, the birth rate has increased since than but not in pace with the aging population.
Sources:
China Daily
CNN
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