Government approval for a second child will be abolished after the new policy is enacted, Wang was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency.
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“China will fully implement the policy of “one couple, two children” in a proactive response to the issue of an aging population”, the ruling Communist Party said in a communique issued after its central committee’s fifth plenary session held from Monday to Thursday. “The fact remains that when couples conceive a third child, the Chinese government will force them to eliminate him or her, by any means necessary”, Rubio added.
China strictly enforced its one-child policy over three decades ago in the hopes of solving its population crisis.
The meeting and the decision to drop the one-child policy took place against a backdrop of uncertainty for China’s leaders. For the first time in decades the working age population fell in 2012, and China could be the first country in the world to get old before it gets rich. Though the policy is introduced, there will be no immediate solution to the existing problems. Zhong Dajun, director of a Beijing economic think-tank said to Voice of America.
Wang Feng, an expert on demographic and social changes in China, hailed the decision as an “historic event”. There were exceptions allowed: in rural areas families were allowed to have a second child if the first was a girl, a few exceptions were also made for ethnic minorities, and since 2013 for couples where one partner was a single child.
Liang said that research done from 1980 to 2011 found that the average number of children that couples wanted was between 1.6 to 1.8, lower than the 2.2 needed to keep the population from shrinking.
Data indicates that the relaxed policy back then did not entice many Chinese couples, citing financial and emotional difficulties in rearing a second child. It’s not just Shanghai and Beijing. Couples that have two children could still be subjected to coercive and intrusive forms of contraception, and even forced abortions – which amount to torture.
Yi Fuxian, a Researcher at the University of Wisconsin, urges the Chinese government to follow up with better population policies.
The statement also emphasized that the nation will still uphold family planning policy, improve its population strategy and seek a balanced development of population.
As a result of the policy, my mother had to endure two abortions.
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The one-child policy was created to control the population, but now the younger Chinese population has the responsibility to care for multiple grandparents.
